Horsemen corralled for first loss

Matt Unrau

The Plains Horsemen had the chance to make a major statement in their first game back from Christmas break. However, the Bigfork Eagles ended up being the ones making the statement in the Horsemen’s own gym with a 69-48 runaway win.

“That was the game. They were picked number one in our conference,” says Senior Trent Thompson. “If the score had been turned around and we had stomped them our confidence would be way up and theirs would be down and we could have put it(the season) in cruise control.”

It looked like Plains was caught back on their heels early in the game as Bigfork used a deadly accurate three-point shooting and an uptempo offense to race out to a 12-5 lead over the Horsemen.

After that with Plains behind, Thompson was able to establish himself inside the block to come back in the game 11-15 at the end of the first quarter. However fellow forward Bryce Benson picked up his third foul at the end of the frame and Brian Green also had to head to the locker room with a bloody nose.

With two of their starters on the bench Bigfork gained control using a 9-0 run to outscore the Horsemen 24-12. After halftime Plains sparked the crowd in the third quarter with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 10, but it never got closer than that as Bigfork looked faster and scrappier than the Horsemen.

“We weren’t mentally ready to play and they were physical,” says Head Coach John Revier. “They kind of took us out of our game.”

Thompson agrees with his coach and thinks his team was overconfident going into the game.

“We’re gonna have to pick it up a lot,” says Thompson. Plains finished the game with 41 turnovers.

It was the first loss of the year for the Horsemen and now gives them the rare chance to learn the hard way by being on the wrong end of the scoreboard.

“A loss isn’t always a bad thing. You can learn from a loss, but it’s not nearly as much fun as learning from a win,” says Revier.

Thompson led the Horsemen in the game with a double double of 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Green collected 10 points.

Plains then had the chance to regain their confidence by traveling to Eureka and although they came away with a 61-55 win, Thompson says the team still didn’t perform up to expectations making it look like Thursday’s game against rivalry Thompson Falls looking very interesting.

“Thompson has been playing pretty good. They’ve been doing alright. They(Thompson Falls players) watched us and we got stomped by Bigfork,” says Thompson “It’s gonna be interesting.”

Many of the Thompson Falls players attended the Thursday night game in Plains to see what would happen in the highly touted game.

Thompson Falls has enjoyed several years of great success against Plains in their home gym. The last time that Plains beat the Bluehawks at home was in 2005 when Thompson’s brother Brandon was a star forward for the team.

Last year the Bluehawks upset Plains 74-65 giving the Horsemen their only loss of the regular season.

“It’s going to be one of those games you don’t want to lose on your own court ever,” says Thompson. “Plus it’s a rivarly game.”

Against Eureka Green led the team with 17 points and Thompson chipped in 15 points for the Horsemen.