In the span of five minutes and 24 seconds, the Timberline Blazers boys basketball team not only doubled their scoring total from the previous 24 minutes and 24 seconds against Mount Tahoma Friday night, but they proved something to longtime head coach Allen Thomas.
“When we do the hard things at a high level, we make the game look a lot easier,” he said.
Timberline scored only 17 points until the 7:36 mark of the fourth quarter, trailing 38-17. The Blazers then erupted for an 18-2 run to turn the game on its head, with the T-Birds only leading by five with 2:12 left. But Timberline couldn’t march any closer in a 49-37 loss to the T-Birds.
Mount Tahoma senior Peter Pilcher couldn’t be stopped in the first quarter, scoring 10 points as the T-Birds led 15-7 after one. Both offenses were dormant in the second quarter, but the T-Birds closed the first half by scoring the final four points to give them momentum and a 21-12 advantage heading to the locker room.
Timberline’s offense could only muster five field goals in the first half and turned the ball over six times.
“We weren’t finishing through contact. We weren’t being physical enough. [Pilcher] is tough inside,” Thomas said. “He blocked a couple shots early and was an enforcer. I will give them credit for having physicality.”
The Blazers’ struggles continued into the third quarter. Mount Tahoma seemed to have the game in hand with a pair of 3-pointers late in the period, finishing the third holding its biggest lead at 19.
In the fourth, a switch flicked on for Timberline. Energy was higher. Effort was boosted. Defensive pressure made an impact and turned the T-Birds over. Belief from the Timberline faithful and bench especially began to rise in the gym when Carmelo Roper threw down a transition dunk as part of an 18-2 run, which included 14 unanswered points at one point.
Arilson Lima Filho and Roper each drained a triple to slice the lead to five, but a 3-pointer by Mount Tahoma’s Beka Deressa swelled the margin back to eight. Timberline couldn’t convert on its next pair of field goals, and the T-Birds managed to hit their free throws in the waning moments to seal their fourth straight win.
Timberline (4-10, 4-6 Puget Sound League) has now lost two straight games and six of its last eight. The Blazers offense has put up fewer than 40 points in back-to-back games for the first time in at least a decade, as they scored 28 in a 21-point loss to Gig Harbor Wednesday.
“We need to figure out what lineup or recipe gets these guys going at the beginning of the game,” Thomas said. “We’ve had two games in a row where the offense wasn’t there. But then this game, we learned from the last game against Gig Harbor. Defensively is where we’ve got to hang our hat. That’s our identity as a team. We’re not the best offensive team, but defensively, we’re really dynamic. Once we buy into that, then things become easier.”
Isaiah Tillman was the only Blazer in double figures with 11 points, while Damari Evans and Roper each scored nine. Arilson Lima Filho and Leon Heilman rounded out the scoring with six and two, respectively.
Timberline will visit Lincoln (7-3, 7-3 PSL) on Tuesday, Jan. 20 before returning home for a three-game home stand, starting Thursday, Jan. 22 against River Ridge. The Blazers still stand firmly in third place in the Puget Sound League Nisqually division behind 7-3 River Ridge and 6-4 Lakes.
