Blulehawks soar past Horsemen
Plains senior Andrew Baker looks for a way to pass around the long arms of Challis Wilson during Friday's 40-59 loss against the Bluehawks.
Junior guard Brandyn Smith is cornered between a Bluehawk and the sideline during Friday's 40-59 loss against Thompson Falls.
Senior guard Josh Hojem handles the ball during a 59-40 Bluehawks win over Rival Plains on Friday.
Bluehawks guard Garrett Reinschmidt gets out in front of Taylor Firestone and Andrew Baker of Plains in transition.
On Friday night, there seemed to be more bark than bite to the District 7-B inter-county rivalry between Plains and Thompson Falls, as the Bluehawks soared to a 59-40 victory over the Horsemen.
After a grind-it-out opening period, and a 9-7 Thompson Falls lead, there seemed to be a three-quarter long fast break, which played to the Bluehawks strengths as they literally ran away with the lead and the game.
“We were missing our shots and they were getting lay-ups at the other end,” Horsemen head coach Cory Ovitt said. “I wanted them to slow it down and be patient on offense and make Thompson work on defense.”
The Bluehawks pushed their lead and the pace as they opened up a 31-23, halftime lead.
Thompson Falls led a lopsided third quarter 13-5, which effectively put the game out of reach for Plains who fell to 0-5 conf., 3-7 ovr.
“We were able to dictate tempo so we felt very good about that,” Thompson Falls head coach Chad Laws said. “We like to push the ball and give the crowd a show and play a style of basketball that is a lot of fun for our team.”
Taylor Firestone was the lone player to break into double digits for Plains with 10. Other scorers included Tanner Ostrum and Andrew Baker with six points each, Jeff Revier five, Brandyn Smith, Robert Earhart and Wade Bache scoring four and Travis Lilja one.
It seemed as though Thompson Falls could score at ease, getting buckets all over the court from forwards and guards alike as the 1-4, 4-6 Bluehawks tallied their first conference win.
Chalis Wilson led the charge with a game-high 17 points while Garret Reinschmidt, 15, and A.J. Pavlik, 10, joined him in double figures. Cody Phillips and Kevin Hagedorn each scored five points, Jaron Laws three and Josh Hojem and Dalton Groshong two apiece.
“We have several guys that are able to produce on any given night depending on what the defense tries to take away from us,” Laws said. “We’re going to take what’s given and we’re going to attack that way. If teams want to take away our outside game, you can certainly see that we’re able to penetrate and find the posts and if people want to sag on us we certainly know that we can hit some shots from outside.”
The loss was the second of the week for Plains, who fell to Mission, on the road, 35-52 on Thursday.
The Horsemen took advantage of Mission’s slow start, heading into halftime down only two, 14-16, as the Bulldogs missed 21 of their first 23 shots in the paint and attempted only three free throws.
Things changed in the second half, as the Bulldogs committed only four turnovers and attempted 19 free throws to outscore Plains 36-21 after the break. Mission also enjoyed a 45-26 edge in rebounding throughout the contest.
Although the Horsemen were shorthanded, with two injured players and three others sitting out for disciplinary reasons, Ovitt was not happy with the rebound disparity.
For the Horsemen, Baker scored 10, Revier seven, Firestone and John Zigler six apiece, Jeremiah Crawford four, and Lilja two.
Austin Durglo led all scorers with 14 points while leading St. Ignatius (1-3, 4-5) to the win.
This week Plains has a busy week with three non-conference games. They host Charlo on Tuesday (results not available at press time) and travel to Hot Springs on Friday and Darby on Saturday.
Thompson Falls would host Mission, just two days later, as the Bulldogs picked up their second straight conference win, holding the Bluehawks to one point in overtime during a dramatic 51-45 win.
In a back and forth affair, Thompson Falls was out in front early 12-7, and would maintain their five point lead heading into the second half, 24-19. In the third, Mission set the stage for a dramatic comeback by the Bluehawks as they went up 37-31 heading into the final frame, before Thompson Falls would tie things up at the end of regulation.
“I think it showed a lot of character from our kids part from us being ahead by quite a bit early on and then giving up the lead late, we were still able to come back and have a shot to win at the end of regulation,” said Laws.
For the second game in a row, Challis Wilson led his team in scoring, this time netting 24 points in the loss. Laws tallied nine points, Phillips and Sky Hall three apiece, while Hojem, Reinschmidt and Pavlik two each.
Stuart Grant led St. Ignatius with 18 points while teammate Austin McDonald chipped in 14 for the Bulldogs who improved to 2-5, 5-5.
The Bluehaws have two more conference opponents next week, as they travel to face Troy on Friday and Eureka on Saturday.