Lady Hawks earn No. 4 seed
After getting a bye in the first day of the 7B girls basketball playoffs in Bigfork, the Thompson Falls Lady Hawks had reason to feel optimistic.
They were a win away from a championship match-up with Bigfork, with the Eureka Lady Lions standing in their way.
But it was not to be this year for the girls from T-Falls as they fell to Eureka 50-40 Friday afternoon in a game that sent them to the consolation round.
Bigfork would end up beating Eureka 46-34 in the championship game, with both teams advancing to the Western Divisional playoffs this weekend in Ronan, while the Lady Hawks advanced to Ronan as a fourth seed Divisional berth.
Eureka and T Falls had split their regular season games, with each team winning on their home court.
So the semi-final game in Bigfork also loomed as the rubber match to a solid season for both team.
Both teams battled evenly through the first quarter, with the Lady Lions emerging with a 13-12 lead at the conclusion of the first eight minutes of play.
Eureka which had three players score in double figures during the game, added two points to that lead in quarter number two to take a tenuous 28-25 halftime lead.
With game-high scorer Reena Truman leading the way, the Lady Lions added three more points to its lead in the third quarter and were holding onto a 37-31 lead heading into the final quarter.
The Lady Lions outscored T Falls 13-9 in the final eight minutes of the game to clinch the victory and move on to the championship game. In addition to Truman’s 15, Eureka got 12 points from Jimena Sanchez and 10 from Jadyn Pluid.
Maliyah LeCoure scored 11 points to lead Thompson Falls, while Avery Burgess chipped in 10.
The loss dropped the Lady Hawks into a Saturday morning loser out consolation game with Sanders County rival Plains and T Falls had no problem dispatching of the Trotters for the third time this year by a 69-29 score.
Against Plains the Lady Hawks jumped out to an early 17-4 first quarter lead and never looked back. By halftime they had built a 36-15 advantage and put the game out of reach by outscoring the Trotters 25-6 in the third quarter.
Heading into the final eight minutes of play, the Lady Hawks were 61-21 lead and the 40-points-ahead Mercy rule was in play, keeping the clocking running throughout the final period.
Natalie Roberts paced the Lady Hawks in scoring with 18 points, while junior Avery Burgess added 16 for T Falls.
Plains was led by the nine points from Carlie Wagnor and eight from Kaylah Standeford. The loss to T Falls, coupled with a Thursday loss to St. Ignatius eliminated the Trotters from the tournament and ended their season.
Thompson Falls lived on to reach the consolation final Saturday afternoon where they too were eliminated after they were soundly defeated by St. Ignatius 62-35, giving them fourth place in the tournament, good for a number four seed this weekend in the Divisional tournament.
T Falls led the Lady Bulldogs 15-14 at the end of the first period, but St. Ignatius came roaring back in the second quarter by outscoring the Lady Hawks 22-5 to take a 36-20 halftime lead.
They then cranked up their defense in quarter number three, holding T Falls to just two points while scoring 14 of their own to put the game away. Natalie Roberts led the Lady Hawks in their final game of the season with 10 points.