County's top rivals face off at T-Falls

More than 600 spectators packed the Thompson Falls High School gymnasium to see the Bluehawks take on their biggest foe, the Plains Horsemen. In just over an hour later, the Bluehawks walked off the court with a 72-58 win to give them a 4-0 conference record and a 7-3 overall record.

Senior Brian Schenavar led the Bluehawks with 20 points, two of which were three-point baskets, including one from nearly half court with a mere five seconds on the second quarter clock. Teammate Dillon Gerstenberger, a junior, chalked up three, three-point shots.

Chadd Laws, head coach for the Bluehawks, said his team had a good shooting night, hitting 27 of 63 field goals and six of 18 three-pointers. The team's free throw success was 67 percent, but Laws said he'd like to see them hit about 70 percent.

Laws said any triumph over Plains is a big win because of the historic rivalry between the two schools. "They seem to bring the best with them to Thompson Falls," said Laws, whose team will again face the Horsemen at Plains Friday, Feb. 8.

"Anytime we can get a win from Plains, it's a big win," he said.

Senior Brandon Damaskos led with seven of the team's 29 rebounds. He also collected three of the Hawks' 14 steals, which was led by Schenavar, who had six.

Thompson Falls defeated the Mission Bulldogs 71-46 Saturday with Dallas VonHeeder leading the team with 22 points and 13 rebounds.

On Friday, Horsemen Mitch Thompson and Paul Green led the Plains team with 14 points apiece, followed close by Trent Thompson with 11 and Tanner Colombo with 10. "Stormin' Junior" Trent Thompson is normally a team point leader with an average of 11 points a game, said head coach John Revier. "Trent couldn't buy a bucket," said Revier, who said the sophomore had several close baskets.

Revier said they hate to lose against Thompson Falls, but he feels they have a good chance at the Feb. 8 game. "They have to come to our house now," said Revier, who also said his players never gave up Friday. "We played hard and we didn't lay down and die, even when we were down by 17 points."

Thompson Falls took an immediate lead Friday evening with Schenavar hitting his mark in just over a minute of the game's start, followed by Damaskos, who nabbed two-for-two free throws. Mitch Thompson scored, but Damaskos and Gerstenberger answered with four more points. Mitch Thompson struck again, with Ian Stokes following with a pass from Green to put the Horsemen two points behind the Bluehawks. However, Gerstenberger nabbed two more baskets within seconds of each other to give Thompson Falls a seven-point lead.

Plains reduced the gap and tied the game 15-15 with under two minutes left in the first quarter. Laws' Hawks pulled ahead again, but with nine seconds on the clock, Trent Thompson, towering at 6 feet, 6 inches, scored from under the rim to end the quarter one point behind.

Thompson Falls kept up its pressure in the second and eventually pulled ahead by 17 points at the end of the first half. Five seconds into the third quarter saw VonHeeder score, but Plains came right back with baskets by Green, Colombo and the Thompson brothers, yet by the end of the third, the Bluehawks still had a 10-point lead.

The Horsemen drew first blood in the fourth with a layup by Green and two foul shots by Mitch Thompson, followed by a swisher by Colombo and a bucket by Stokes to put the Plains boys within five points, the closest they came during the rest of the game. With 10 seconds in the conflict, Brandon Wakefield hit one of two free throws for the Bluehawks to end the game.

Of the team's 35 rebounds, Mitch Thompson led the Horsemen with 10; Trent had eight. The Thompson boys and Green had three steals apiece. The Horsemen hold a 8-2 overall record and a 3-1 conference record.

The Thompson Falls' junior varsity team also won 60-28, but the Horsemen's C-squad claimed a 56-55 victory. With seconds on the clock, Horseman Carson Lilja shot a three-pointer that went through the hoop with 2/10th of a second left in the game, said coach Cory Ovitt. Lilja chalked up 22 points in the game. Teammate Jeff Revier had 15.

The Bluehawks are scheduled to face the Troy Trojans at Thompson Falls Thursday, beginning at 4:15 p.m. They travel to Eureka the following day to take on the Lions for a second time.

The Horsemen travel to Hot Springs to battle the Savage Heat Thursday, with the varsity game scheduled at 5:30 p.m. The take on the Darby Tigers at Plains Saturday with the boys junior varsity squad at 3 p.m.