Healthy Blue Hawks collect pair of wins

Back to full roster strength and back on the winning track.

That seems to be the case with the Thompson Falls Blue Hawks boys basketball team as they rolled to a pair of victories this past weekend.

With starters Dante Micheli and Nathan Schraeder back from Covid-related absences, the Blue Hawks easily dispatched winless Troy last Thursday, then fought off non-conference foe Anaconda, which has had a myriad of cancelled games this season, in a Saturday afternoon thriller.

Saturday against the visiting Copperheads from the Western 6B conference, Micheli and Schraeder were back in form from the opening tip.

The Blue Hawks led 16-15 after one quarter.

The back-and-forth scoring continued in the second eight minutes of play, with Micheli leading the way with multiple steals and timely baskets. He was joined by Schraeder and senior forward Kade Pardee, who snared a game-high 16 rebounds.

At the half, the Blue Hawks went into intermission with a razor-thin 28-27 lead.

Despite shooting just under 16 percent from three-point range (3 of 19), the Blue Hawks defensive dominance of the glass led to numerous breakaway scoring opportunities.

They countered their long-range woes with a 59 percent average from two-point land and, with Pardee and Micheli vacuuming the backboards on the defensive end, began to pull away from the stubborn visitors in the third quarter.

Heading into the final eight minutes of play, Thompson Falls had boosted their lead to a dozen points, 45-33.

The Blue Hawks had enough to hold off a late Copperheads rally, thanks in large part to some timely free throw shooting.

Cody Burk, the Blue Hawks imposing 6-5 post, hit all four of his free throw attempts in the final quarter and Schraeder and Micheli scored repeatedly to choke off Anaconda scoring spurts.

Micheli led with 18 points while Schraeder added 17. Pardee chipped in 11 points.

The win, along with a romp over Troy two nights earlier, boosted the Blue Hawks to 8-1 on the year and 5-1 in Western 7B play.

The Blue Hawks took control early against the Trojans, flying to a 15-3 lead by the end of the first quarter. With Pardee cleaning the glass and Micheli and Schraeder back in the nest, the Blue Hawks ran and scored at will against the out-manned Trojans.

By halftime, the score stood 35-11 in favor of the Blue Hawks and the outcome was inevitable.

Thompson Falls expanded their halftime lead to 50-17 with one quarter to play and it was time for the reserves to get some varsity playing time.

Sharpshooting guard Justin Morgan joined Micheli with a pair of 3-pointers each as the Blue Hawks shot a respectable 43 percent from beyond the arc.

Micheli led a balanced Blue Hawks attack with 12 points, while Schraeder tallied 11 in the duo’s return to play after missing a week of action.

Pardee, who once again owned the glass backboards with 10 rebounds, added eight points for the Blue Hawks.

With district tournament play looming on the near horizon, the Blue Hawks take to the road this weekend for a pair of games, beginning Thursday night against Missoula Loyola. They return to the road Saturday for an encounter with 7B foe Eureka.