Horsemen rise to occasion

Plains defeated Thompson Falls and moves on the Districts

PLAINS – The Horsemen competed in the District Tournament this past week but first they had to earn their spot in the game against their county rivals. Plains hosted the Thompson Falls Bluehawks Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. When the crowd was not standing they were on the edge of their seats watching the intense game.

The Bluehawks soared ahead in the first quarter and hit double digits. The score was 11-7 going into the second quarter but that was when the Horsemen really stepped up. They earned 22 points in the second and took the lead from Thompson Falls. The Horsemen were in the lead and the score was a close 29-26 going into halftime.

The back-and-forth continued in the third quarter as the Bluehawks gained the upper hand once again with 12 points versus the eight points Plains acquired. The Horsemen were down by one and the board read 37-38 going into the fourth quarter. The final outcome was anyone’s guess.

One play as the clock ran down made all the difference. Horseman Kyle Revier took advantage of an opening and laid-up the ball with only 20 seconds remaining. The Plains boys took the lead with no time left for Thompson Falls to get it back. The final score was 48-44 and the Horsemen earned the right to move on to tournament action.

The Bluehawks season came to an end with a 6-13 record. In their last game, Trais Hoisington lit up the scoreboard with 23 points and Greg Wadsworth contributed 12 points.

Head Coach for Thompson Falls Chadd Laws said Plains played a better game that night.

“They came away with the win and it’s a very good thing for their program. My hats are off to both the teams,” Coach Laws said.

He said the team as a whole played a darn good team defensively, while Hoisington lit up the court offensively.

“We had aspirations of a longer season so it’s pretty tough. It’s very real when it comes to an end there,” Coach Laws said. “We were disappointed we weren’t playing more but we accept the responsibility of things we could have done better. There will be another chance.”

The work for the next year began after their season ended. The time to evaluate is now and that is exactly what Coach Laws is doing.

As for the Horseman, in addition to the crucial last minute basket, Revier was also the lead scorer for Plains with 14 points. Ryan Ovitt followed closely behind with 13 points and Aaron Baker had seven points.

According to Head Coach Russ Baker, this accomplishment is what the boys have been working towards all season.

“Our goal at the beginning of the season was to beat Thompson Falls to get another shot at Eureka and Troy,” he said. “They played extremely well to get that win over them.”

With a win under their belt, the Horsemen traveled to Ronan to meet the Bigfork Vikings for the Semifinal of the District Tournament. Bigfork gave the Horsemen trouble earlier in the season.

The score stayed fairly close in the first quarter with Plains earning five points and Bigfork earning seven points. The second quarter resulted in a bigger gap between the teams with the Vikings putting up 10 more points than the Horsemen. The score at halftime was 11-23.

The Plains boys hit double digits in the third quarter but so did Bigfork and the deficit going into the last quarter was 25 points. The Vikings really blew it open in the fourth quarter with 22 points and the Horsemen were hung out to dry with zero. The final score was 69-22.

Ovitt led his team with 12 points. Revier had four while Baker and James Rulison each had three points.

Due to the loss against the Bigfork Vikings, the Horsemen went on to play a consolation game against Troy. The Plains boys were forced to fight through another close game.

The Horsemen came out ready to rumble in the first quarter and outscored Troy by five points. The Trojans pushed back and earned 12 points versus the 10 points Plains put up in the second quarter. The score was a close 27-24 at halftime.

The game swung back in favor of the Horsemen in the third quarter as they gained seven points more than Troy. The score going into the last quarter was 45-35. The Trojans rallied and earned more points than Plains in the fourth quarter but it was not enough to catch the Horsemen. They won with a final score of 55-52.

Ovitt led his team once again with 13 points and Rulison followed closely with 11 points. Baker contributed 10 points and Wyatt Winebrenner put up six points.

The success of the Horsemen has been a team effort and Coach Baker was pleased with Ovitt’s performance in district.

“Ryan Ovitt has been pretty consistent throughout the tournament. He scored right around 13 points in all three games,” he said.

According to Coach Baker, the boys are very eager to move forward in the competition.

“They are pretty excited,” he said. “None of them have made it there before so it will be a new experience for them.”

The Horsemen will travel to Hamilton on Wednesday to play Loyola in the first round of the Divisional Tournament.