Lady Hawks close out season against Lady Dawgs
<p>The seniors of the Thompson Falls Bluehawk and Lady Hawk basketball teams were recognized during their final home game of the regular season. Shey Hannum, Brooke Jacobs, Tanner Laws, Corey Tessier, Josh Wulfekuhle, Joe Lundberg, Trais Hoisington, Joe Fields, Max Birkholt and Tyler Riffle stand with their escorts at Friday’s game.</p>
THOMPSON FALLS – In their second to last game of the regular season, the Lady Hawks took a defeat against the Whitefish Lady Dawgs.
Whitefish leapt into an early lead before Thompson Falls could get any points. The home team was able to break through and get on the board, though, thanks to some great plays. The Lady Hawks pulled the Dawgs back, keeping the score close. The Whitefish team was keeping ahead, though, and started pulling into a lead again; the shots from Thompson Falls were just not going into the basket. By the end of the first quarter, the Lady Hawks were trailing with a score of 3-24.
With the start of the second quarter, the Thompson Falls girls hit their stride and started recovering from their initial issues with shots. They were slowly pulling ahead, mostly through free throws; the Dawgs, though, were able to maintain their lead. A nice three-point shot by Shay Hannum gave the Lady Hawks a strong push toward recovering as they got more baskets. The first half closed with Whitefish still ahead to a score of 12-36.
As the second half began, the Lady Hawks fought hard to come back. It was getting late, though, and fatigue was starting to weigh on both teams. Whitefish’s defense was strong and the Thompson Falls team struggled to break through. The quarter closed with a score of 19-50.
In the final quarter, the late hour was weighing on both teams. Neither was performing as they had earlier in the game and the ball went back and forth across the court with few scores. Thompson Falls was able to overcome fatigue, rallying and starting to come back fast. They shot past the Whitefish defense and closed the score gap. The game closed with a final score of 32-58.
Head Coach Doree Thilmony recalled the game ended around 10:30 and it was hard for the girls to get going into their game. She recalled the first quarter usually sets the tone for the game and the hole they were in was hard to get out of. But, she stressed she was very happy with the fourth quarter and how well they played.
Friday, the Lady Hawks also had their senior night. Thilmony recalled how nuce it was with Hannum and Brooke Jacobs on the team; the said Jacobs was very coachable and positive.
“She’ll be really missed for that aspect,” she said. “She’s a little firecracker too.”
The coach also commended Hannum’s competitive spirit. She said Hannum competed in high levels before and had a great spirit and confidence for their games.
“It’s something our team’s definitely gonna miss” Thilmony said.