Brown steps up late in thriller at Noxon

Junior Bethany Brown's hot hand late in the game Friday night kept the edge on Thompson Falls and the Noxon girls squeezed out the victory 53-52 in front of a packed house.

Thompson Falls took the advantage in the early stages of the game by breaking through Noxon's press for easy points. The Lady Hawks also took advantage of their six-foot senior post Katie Petteys. Petteys was an important force for Thompson Falls down low, grabbing offensive rebounds and scoring. The first quarter ended with Thompson Falls in command 13-9.

What kept Noxon in the game was their aggressiveness on offense. The Lady Red Devils attacked the basket and drew fouls to get to the free throw line. In the second quarter they found they could work the ball around until there was an open jump shot and they converted them.

Noxon used a half-court trap to create havoc in the Thompson Falls back court and create turnovers. Assertive play on offensive rebounds and defense helped to spark a swing in momentum and the Lady Red Devils went into halftime with new life and a one point lead at 22-21.

Noxon came out of the gates with a quick layup by senior Sarah Larkin and the Lady Red Devils stuck with the same defensive scheme as their half-court trap continued to work.

Thompson Falls battled back by getting the ball inside to Petteys who finished with 11 points. But despite the Lady Hawks' height advantage, Noxon was able to go into the key and score themselves. Midway through the third, Larkin at 5 feet 6 inches sealed off Petteys on the low block and scored, raising their lead to 32-23 and prompting Thompson Falls to take a time-out.

Toward the end of the third Thompson Falls showed some life when Katelyn Jedlicka hit a deep three-pointer, but a minute later Bethany Brown answered with a three of her own at the buzzer. The shot stretched the lead out to 41-31 and all the momentum seemed to belong to the Lady Red Devils.

The third quarter belonged to Noxon but if anyone in the crowded gym thought the game was over, it wasn't the Lady Hawks. They started the fourth fighting their way back with three tough, unanswered baskets that cut the lead to four.

Noxon coach Ted Miller said he saw his players loosen up a bit too much during the final period.

"I thought we got a little bit relaxed," Miller said. "That fourth quarter Thompson Falls came out and started hitting some shots."

With four minutes remaining, Jedlicka completely deflated Noxon's balloon when she hit another three-point jumper to tie the game at 42. It was a brand new game for only a few seconds until Bethany Brown got the ball at the other end of the floor and answered Jedlicka yet again with a three-pointer.

The scoring went back and fourth for the next few minutes.

Thompson Falls' Rheanna Padden grabbed a crucial rebound with under one minute remaining and kicked the ball out to Jedlicka who connected on her fourth three-pointer.

The shot knotted the game up at 49, but Bethany Brown proved she is the bane of the Lady Hawks by connecting on her fifth three-point basket. With the lead back to the Lady Red Devils 52-49 and time winding down, Thompson Falls fouled Brown and the junior connected on one of the two bonus free throws.

The Lady Hawks were not finished yet, however, as Padden made things interesting by hitting a three-pointer with 30 seconds on the clock. After Noxon took the ball down to the other end, Miller called a time-out to ensure his players new the plan for the final 14 seconds.

"I was screaming for the time-out as hard as I could," Miller said. "I about passed out over there."

Miller was finally granted the time-out and the Lady Red Devils got the win as they managed to avoid the foul attempts by Thompson Falls and run out the clock.

The scoring for Thompson Falls was spread out, primarily among five players. Jedlicka, a junior, led the Lady Hawks with 12 points while Petteys and Padden each scored 11. Two sophomores contributed to the scoring for Thompson Falls. Karli Cavill scored 10 points and Kyla Molzhon scored six.

For Noxon, Brown scored 22 points to lead all scorers. She also added five steals and seven assists. Larkin pitched in 10 points while senior Kimmy Moore scored 12 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Lindsey Franz, a junior, collected six points and 13 rebounds.

Thompson Falls coach Jason Reimer credited Noxon for playing well Friday. He said his team's slow start, coupled with great shooting from Noxon, spelled the end for the Lady Hawks.

"We had a really slow third quarter and had to play catch-up," Reimer said. "Then every time we tried to rally they came down and hit a three-pointer."

The rebounding battle turned out to be evenly matched as Noxon grabbed 44 rebounds while Thompson Falls tallied 41. A more telling statistic might be in the turnovers. Thompson Falls finished with 22 turnovers while Noxon gave the ball away 16 times.

Miller was happy to end up on the winning side of a barn-burning finish for once.

"We've been in some close ones but haven't gotten them," Miller said. "If we can build off this win we'll compete. We just needed that for our confidence."

With the win, Noxon improved to 5-8 (3-4). Their next game will be Feb. 1, at St. Regis. Thompson Falls fell to 7-7 (4-2) with the loss. The next contest for the Lady Hawks will be Feb. 2, at Charlo.