‘I’m in shock right now.’ Last-second steal, 3-pointer lifts Timberline to state title
On a team with two future Division I players, Lauren McCall often gets overlooked.
Consider those days over.
The junior point guard drilled the biggest shot in Timberline program history Saturday, coming up with a steal and a step-back 3-pointer with 15 seconds left to lift the Wolves to a 36-35 win over Boise in the 5A girls basketball state championship at the Ford Idaho Center.
“Lauren is just relentless in her defense and offense,” Timberline senior forward Sophie Glancey said. “She doesn’t slow down. … This tournament, she’s made some big plays for us. The free throws the last few games and then this 3, it’s just one thing after another.”
The Wolves (25-2) trailed by four points with 46 seconds left. And with star guard Audrey Taylor on the bench after fouling out, the Wolves’ title prospects stood on life support.
But Glancey drained two free throws with 21 seconds left to cut the deficit to two. McCall and Kailey Huegerich then pounced on Boise (21-4) guard Ella Nelson to force the turnover on the inbound pass. And McCall lined up and drained the game-winning shot, capping a five-point swing in the blink of an eye.
There was no plan. No secret play. No timeout to set it up.
Just pure instinct.
“It was just the want to win,” McCall said. “That’s all it was.”
Timberline coach Andy Jones admitted he lost track of the score in the flurry after McCall’s basket, failing to call a timeout to set up his defense and allowing Boise a free run up the court. But Glancey contested a shot from Boise’s Ashley Banks on the fast break, and then she tied up the rebound with Nelson, earning the Wolves a jump ball.
The possession arrow favored Timberline with 5.2 seconds left, helping the Wolves wrap up the second state championship in program history. The first came in 2003.
“I’m in shock right now,” Jones said. “... I don’t even know what the score was. Everything happened so fast.”
The win caps a long road back to the top for Timberline, which missed the state tournament 13 straight times before Jones took over the program four years ago. The Wolves made it to the finals two years ago, only to fall to Mountain View. But Glancey, Taylor, McCall and Huegerich all played key roles on that team and brought a wealth of experience to this year’s run.
Glancey and Taylor, who have both signed with Northern Arizona, drew most of the attention this year as dominant scorers. But McCall, who’s started every game since her freshman year, rode to the rescue multiple times during the state tournament.
She finished with nine points Saturday and averaged 9.3 points at the Idaho Center.
“When we were struggling shooting, she hit some gigantic shots all week,” Jones said. “Losing Audrey and Sophia, I don’t know if we even comprehend how big of a hole that’s going to leave.
“So having her hit that shot and catapult us to a state championship out of the depths of despair, that should really be just a launching pad for her for her senior year.”
Glancey added 13 points and 11 rebounds, recording her 11th double-double of the season and second of the state tournament. She entered the program as a freshman Jones’ first year and leaves as one of its most decorated players.
“She’s been our rock,” McCall said. “We can lean on her for anything. She’ll get that rebound for us. She’ll get steals. She’ll box out. She’s a rock.”
The win earned Jones his seventh state championship, moving him up the leaderboard as one of the state’s most successful girls basketball coaches. He’s now two behind Emery Roy, who won nine titles between Meridian and Centennial. No one else has more than five.
The title celebration marked a wildly different ending from last season, when Jones left Timberline’s first-round game with lingering complications from an earlier coronavirus infection. High blood pressure levels forced him to leave the court in a wheelchair, and he didn’t coach the rest of the tournament.
“I have no ill effects,” Jones said. “I mostly feel bad that I let the kids down. … We basically returned intact, so those kids got to make another run at it. I’m so happy for them that it didn’t end that way.”
Southern Utah signee Ashley Banks also posted a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds for Boise, as she and Glancey battled in the paint in the night’s marquee matchup.
Sophomore Avery Howell scored seven of her 12 points in the fourth quarter to give Boise a 35-31 lead with 46 seconds left. She also grabbed nine rebounds.
Lake City 59, Rigby 46: Kendall Pickford, the Timberwolves’ lone senior, led three scorers in double figures with 15 points and four assists in the 5A third-place game. Kamryn Pickford had 13 points, and Sophia Zufelt finished with 10 points for Lake City (22-4).
Thunder Ridge 63, Post Falls 58: Aspen Caldwell erupted for 28 points, and Marley Spencer added 14 points and eight rebounds to lead the Titans (22-4) to the 5A consolation title.
RECORD-SETTING WHITING LEADS BURLEY TO TITLE
Oregon commit Amari Writing broke her own state tournament scoring record to carry the Bobcats to a 58-43 win over Skyline in the 4A state championship.
The junior poured in 25 points to finish the three-day tournament with 89 points and 29.7 points per game, edging the 4A records she set last year of 82 points and 27.3 points per game.
She also set a tournament record for made free throws (28) and tied her tournament field-goal record (28).
She scored 22 of her 25 points Saturday in the first three quarters as the Bobcats (24-1) built a 20-point lead at halftime and led by as many as 27 in the third quarter. The 5-10 point guard also grabbed 11 rebounds Saturday, finishing the tournament averaging 12.3 rebounds per game and shooting 45% from the floor (28-for-62).
Skyline (15-14) freshman Shay Shippen matched Whiting with 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the Grizzlies’ first appearance in the state championship.
Blackfoot 36, Preston 29: Marlee Pieper scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds off the bench, and Hadley Humpherys added nine points and 12 rebounds to lead the Broncos (26-1) to the 4A third-place trophy.
Middleton 62, Bishop Kelly 57, 2OT: The Vikings outlasted the Knights in a consolation final that featured 12 lead changes and 13 ties.
Payton Hymas finished with 13 points and five steals to lead Middleton (20-6), which finished the year 4-0 vs. Bishop Kelly. Laney Leavitt added 10 points, and Casidy Fried racked up six points and 14 rebounds.
Addy Laible had 11 points and nine rebounds for Bishop Kelly (19-8), and Addie Hiler added nine points.
This story was originally published February 20, 2022 at 12:10 AM.
