Lady Hawks earn No. 2 seed for 7B tourney
With a critical final weekend of the regular season coming up next, the Thompson Falls Lady Hawks staked a claim for the Western 7B number two playoff seed with a 63-42 win over the Eureka Lions Saturday night in Thompson Falls.
The win came 24 hours after the Lady Hawks were upset on their home court by Western 6B foe Missoula Loyola 77-66 after the Lady Lions pulled off a late rally for a comeback victory.
Against Eureka, T Falls fell behind early to the visitors who came in with a 4-4 conference record, which was good for fourth place in the conference standings.
With the playoffs just two weekends away, 7B teams are fighting for tournament seedings. The Lady Hawks’ win put them alone in second place, one game ahead of third place Mission with two conference games to go for each team.
Eureka clawed its way to a 12-11 at the end of the first quarter in a tightly contested game that featured numerous first half lead ties and changes.
At the end of the first half, T Falls had taken a 26-25 lead as four players contributed double-figure scoring during the game. The Hawks caught fire in the third quarter and outscored the visitors 23-11 to grab a 49-36 lead with one period to go.
Solid defense helped shut down the Lady Lions over the last eight minutes of play as T Falls added eight points to its lead to secure the final victory.
Senior Maliyah LeCoure led the balanced Lady Hawks’ scoring attach with a game-high 19 points. She was joined in double-figure scoring by junior Ellie Baxter with 16, forward Avery Burgess who had 12 and senior Caity Alexander who added 10.
The win boosted Thompson Falls to a 6-2 Western 7B mark and a 12-4 overall record. Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, T Falls trails conference leader Bigfork by two games. The Lady Valkyries have a sparkling 8-1 7B record and are 15-1 overall this year.
Friday night the T Falls girls took on Western 6B opponent Missoula Loyola, which came to town with a 7-5 season record. The Breakers surprised Thompson Falls early on when they jumped to a 16-12 first quarter lead, then expanded that advantage to 33-23 by halftime.
However, the third quarter was all T Falls as the home team rode another set of four double-figure scorers and outscored the Breakers 31-18 to erase the visitor’s lead and went ahead 54-51 heading into the final eight minutes of play.
Just when it looked like the Lady Hawks had all the momentum on their side, the Breakers fought back and out-pointed Thompson Falls 26-12 in the fourth quarter to roll to the mild upset.
Baxter led the Lady Hawks in scoring with 22 points, while LeCoure poured in 16, Burgess scored 15 and Chesney Lowe chipped in 10 on the night.
Things don’t get easier for Thompson Falls this weekend, when they hit the road for a pair of games against conference contenders.
The Lady Hawks will be in St. Ignatius Thursday to face the Lady Bulldogs who are a game behind T Falls in the 7B race with a 5-3 conference record. The Hawks return to the road this Saturday to take on conference leader Bigfork, which holds an 8-1 league record.
The Western 7B playoffs begin Thursday, February 17 in Pablo.