Lady Hawks rally past Plains; top Troy in 14C opener
Thompson Falls sophomore Jody Detlaff is tied up by Meria Loberg of Plains during the Thursday, Dec. 20 game at Thompson Falls. Plains’ Haley Josephson also pressures Detlaff. The Lady Hawks rallied for a 47-41 victory. (Joe Sova photos/Clark Fork Valley Press)
A Thompson Falls student shows support for the freshman Elli Pardee during last Thursday’s game against Plains.
Thompson Falls picked up two victories in girls’ basketball last week to head into the holiday break while Plains suffered a pair of losses.
On Tuesday, Dec. 18, the Plains Trotters trailed Arlee early in Plains, and the Scarlets breezed to a 68-43 win.
Thompson Falls and Plains squared off in non-conference action last Friday, when the Lady Hawks poured in 24 points in the final quarter en route to a 47-41 win.
Last Friday, Dec. 21, T-Falls opened 14C Conference play with a 42-35 win over home-standing Troy.
Alyssia Vanderburg and Emily Fiddler were thorns in the sides of the Trotters, as they combined for 37 points in Arlee’s win over Plains. Vanderburg netted 23 points, and Fiddler added 14.
Arlee doubled Plains 14-7 in the opening period, and led 37-19 at halftime. The Scarlets outpointed the Trotters 19-8 in the fourth to pull away.
Kylee Altmiller led Plains with 12 points, and Kassidy Kinzie had 10. Rachel Huenink and Natalee Deschamps added seven points each.
T-FALLS AND Plains were evenly matched, at least in their meeting last Thursday. T-Falls led 8-7 after one period and 18-14 at halftime. Beyond the offense provided by Kinzie, Altmiller and Haley Josephson, Plains rallied to lead 27-23 with a period to play.
A Faith Frields field goal tied the game at 27-all for T-Falls, then it was Blue Hawks sophomore Jody Detlaff’s turn to shine — leading T-Falls on a key 10-0 run. She netted 10 points in the fourth quarter before fouling out with 55 seconds remaining. Detlaff finished with 18 points, 14 in the second half.
“I think what it came down to was defense,” T-Falls head coach Doree Thilmony said. “We’ve been working and talking to them about the fundamentals of defense, help defense. We play as a team and I think they really bought into that and they did a great job.”
Thilmony had praise for Detlaff.
“She’s kind of a quiet person. Under the basket, you kind of forget about her,” the coach said. “Then somebody misses a shot and Jody is there to put it back in … She matches her points with her offensive rebounds.”
Six-foot Megan Baxter provided scoring support with 14 points. She was 6-for-7 from the foul line. Maya Stiles had seven, and hit a key 3-pointer in the fourth quarter.
PLAINS HAD good scoring balance, just not enough points. Altmiller led with 11 points. Kinzie had 10, but was held without a fourth-quarter field goal. Huenink had nine points.
T-Falls and Plains each missed 16 free throws in a game that featured 56 charities. The Lady Hawks were 13-for-29 and Plains was 11-for-27.
The Lady Hawks play Thursday, Dec. 3 at Loyola, then host Eureka on Saturday, Jan. 5. Plains is at St. Regis on Jan. 3 before hosting Hot Springs on Jan. 4.