Blue Hawks earn No. 2 seed at state
Thompson Falls Blue Hawk Kaiden Robins at the Western B tournament. (Tracy Scott/Valley Press)
Wow. That might be the best single word to describe the championship run by the Missoula Loyola Rams during this past weekend’s Western B Division basketball tournament in Hamilton.
The Rams capped their romp through the eight-team tournament, which feeds two boys' teams to the State finals March 13-15 at the University of Montana in Missoula, with a stunningly large win over a very good Thompson Falls team, 82-40 Saturday night.
The No. 1 seed from the Western 6B conference exploded for 31 first quarter points against the number one seed from 7B Blue Hawks on their way to the title win.
Both teams advance to the state tourney.
Following the first quarter of play, the tall, athletic and balanced Rams held a 31-5 advantage, which they increased by 10 points in the second quarter. At the half, Loyola was up 50-15.
After going 10-0 in the 6B conference during the regular season and a losing only one game so far this year (by two points in overtime to Class A Dillon), the Rams were unmatched and largely unchallenged during their Division championship dash.
Loyola extended their lead in the third quarter, outscoring T Falls 23-13 and taking a 73-28 lead heading into the final eight minutes of regulation.
Thompson Falls kept playing and outscored Loyola 12-9 in the fourth quarter, but the overwhelming lead was too much to overcome.
T Falls, which also went 10-0 in their regular season 7B schedule, is 19-4 overall this season. The Blue Hawks, who earned the number two seed in the West, will face the number two seed from the North Division tournament, which is to be held this coming weekend. That game is scheduled for Thursday, March 13 at 5 pm at the UM.
Standout senior forward Bryson LeCoure led the Blue Hawks with 17 points, while teammate Ethan Burgess added 10 for T Falls.
Loyola got a game-high 23 points from Ethan Stack, 17 from Rey Johnstone and 11 points from Jack Clevenger.
Along the way to their title, the Rams also beat St. Ignatius 88-25 in the first round, then routed Arlee 75-35.
T Falls reached the championship game via a first round, 54-36 victory over Anaconda and a second round, 53-41 win over Florence-Carlton.