Lady Hawks advance after win over Loyola

THOMPSON FALLS – “We survived to live another day.”

That’s how Lady Hawk Head Coach Courtney Burky put it after the girls defeated Eureka in their second game of districts.

The ladies will now move on to the Divisional Tournament but with the sounds of it, the girls plan to do more than survive.

“At this point, we just have to win. And they know that. We are just trying to have a lot of fun so they don’t feel a lot of pressure,” Coach Burky said. “Honestly I’d like to come out and get a win to represent 7B well.”

The ladies had a taste of sweet redemption after they countered a loss against Bigfork. The game against Bigfork landed on Thursday, Feb. 20 and the final score was 40-57. In the first quarter, Bigfork outscored the girls by one point. In the second, the ladies were able to bring in 13 points as did the Vals. This put Thompson Falls one point behind their opponents.

Despite valiant efforts, Bigfork outscored the Lady Hawks in the remaining quarters.

Even with the loss, Coach Burky was not disappointed. The girls had improved significantly since the last time the two teams met.

In their last encounter, the ladies lost to Bigfork by 48 points. This time the game was on a more even playing field.

“They had 20 points and we had 19 points at halftime,” Coach Burky explained. “A couple calls didn’t go our way and it really benefited the other team.”

The wheels turned during the game against Eureka. Although Coach Burky said it was by no means a great game, the girls outscored their opponents by six points for a final score of 45-39.

Statistically the ladies played a solid game with a 46 shot percentage from the floor and 53 percent from the free throw line. Where they suffered was with their turnovers. In all, the girls had 26 turnovers - a large reason Coach Burky said the game was not the greatest.

Shey Hannum led the team with 11 points, while the rest of her teammates put in six to eight points. Erica Sorlie, Madison Fitchett, Angela Padden, Autrey Hannum and Logan Beckman all chipped in points.

The team will go on to compete against Loyola on Thursday at 1 p.m. in Hamilton.

The girls have played Loyola once before and lost. This is not a concern because Coach Burky said both teams are different than they were then.

“I feel like if we can cut down our turnovers we can match up just about with everyone and give everyone a good game,” Coach Burky said.

During their three practices, the girls are going to zone in on eliminating the number of turnovers.

The team is planning to utilize their strengths – that is if the other team plays along.

“We are hoping to get the other girls to foul us to get to the foul line,” Coach Burky said.

If the girls come up short, they will have a second chance to redeem themselves since the tournament is conducted in a double elimination style.

“At this point of the game we are every bit as likely as anyone else,” Coach Burky said. “We don’t have the record behind us that maybe Plains has or Deer Lodge has or Loyola has but you know what? Stranger things have happened.”

The goal is to get the girls in a fun loving environment. Coach Burky said if the pressure was off the girls, they would not have to deal with negative energy. She said there was no need to be nervous and right now, the goal is to continue on and have fun while doing so.