Thompson Falls makes run at Western B

In addition to being involved in the boys Western B Division final and the girls B Division consolation round, the two teams from Thompson Falls had a good weekend in Hamilton.

The T Falls boys won their first two games of the tourney, beating Anaconda 54-36 Thursday and downing Florence-Carlton 53-41 Friday prior to their championship game appearance Saturday evening.

And the Thompson Falls girls also won their Thursday tourney opener, upending Anaconda 48-43 in the first round, then falling to tourney champion Missoula Loyola Friday by a 69-32 score before bouncing back Saturday morning in the consolation round with a 57-37 win over Eureka. That win sent the Lady Hawks to the consolation final later Saturday.

The Blue Hawks boys began their tournament run by building an early 18-2 lead after one quarter of play, then holding the lead the rest of the way enroute to the 18-point first round win over Anaconda.

Guard/forward Owen Doyle led the Blue Hawks with 16 points and got 12 from senior guard Kaiden Robins and 10 from Ethan Burgess.

Shane Shalk topped Anaconda with 11 points.

T Falls had a big edge in rebounds, grabbing 42 boards during the game, while the Copperheads had 22.

Robins had a trio of three-pointers and Owen added two treys for the Blue Hawks, who moved on to the semifinal round versus Florence.

The Blue Hawks once again built an early lead, 21-12, after the first quarter, then mostly traded baskets the rest of the way as they earned a trip to the championship game.

Doyle was the high scorer for T Falls against the Falcons, tossing in 18 points. Teammate Bryson LeCoure added 15 to the Blue Hawks total. Brody Duchien led Florence with 14 points.

Florence out-rebounded Thompson Falls 39-33, with Burgess grabbing a team high nine boards for the Blue Hawks.

The T Falls girls opened the tourney with a hard fought, 6-5 first quarter lead over Anaconda in their first round game Thursday afternoon, then outscored the Lady Copperheads 17-9 in the second quarter to take a 23-14 halftime lead.

The Lady Hawks outscored Anaconda 34-20 in the second half to secure the win and move on to the semifinals Friday.

Junior forward Gabi Hannum topped Thompson Falls in scoring with 18 points, while Copperheads’ forward Meela Mitchell scored a game-high 22 points for Anaconda.

Friday afternoon, T Falls ran into eventual tourney champion Missoula Loyola and fell behind 23-1 after the first eight minutes of play. By halftime, the Breakers had built a 37-10 lead from which they never looked back.

Loyola outscored the Lady Hawks 32-22 over the final two quarters of the game as they rolled into the championship final versus Florence.

Spencer Laird had a game-best 20 points for the Breakers.

The loss to Loyola sent the Lady Hawks into the consolation round Saturday morning versus Eureka, where they established a 15-7 lead after one quarter, then held a 25-21 advantage at halftime.

T Falls cranked up their defense in the second half, holding the Lady Lions to 16 points while scoring 32 of their own enroute to the win.

Lady Hawks forward Addy Deal led all scorers with 22 points and got double-figure scoring help from three teammates: Solveig Nygaard (12) Hannum (11) and Annalise Fairbank(10) as they advanced to the consolation final.

    Blue Hawk Sam Burgess goes for two at the Western B tournament. (Tracy Scott/Valley Press)
  

    Thompson Falls Lady Hawk Solveig Nygaard slips past Anaconda Copperhead Meela Mitchell. (Tracy Scott/Valley Press)
  

    Thompson Falls Lady Hawk Gabi Hannum shoots over Anaconda Copperhead Meela Mitchell Rain Daniels and Quincy Saltenberger. (Tracy Scott/Valley Press)