Blue Hawks No. 2 seed at state tournament
And then there was one.
Local basketball team left standing heading into the state B-C finals next week in Missoula.
The Thompson Falls boys advanced to this championship tournament this coming weekend at the Adams Center on the campus of the University of Montana as the lone representative from the far northwest portion of the state.
The Blue Hawks are the number two seed from the Western Division and will take on the Wildcats from Harlem (Montana, not New York) in the nightcap of first round games this Thursday (March 13).
Harlem is the second seed from the Northern Division after being routed by Malta, 95-57 this past weekend. The Wildcats come into the eight-team state finals with the worst record among the qualifying teams.
Harlem is currently 12-12 following their loss to the offensive juggernaut Mustangs from Malta.
Thompson falls enters the tourney with a 19-4 overall mark, including their Western Division title loss to defending state champion Missoula Loyola, which ran their record to 22-1 with the 82-40 win over the Blue Hawks.
T Falls brings in a senior-laden team, with seven of the 12 players on their roster being seniors, led by all-everything forward Bryson LeCoure, who was routinely a team leader in scoring and rebounding during the year.
The Blue Hawks have also had fine play this season from senior guard Kaiden Robins, guard/forward Owen Doyle, forward Bryson McCormick, guard/forward Sam Burgess, forward Braedon Ferris and guard/forward Ian Myers.
And while graduation will take a heavy toll on coach Jake Mickelson’s team, a solid core of returnees and some promising talent at the JV level, coupled with Mickelson’s successful record and basketball knowledge, the Hawks figure to be in the hunt next year as well.
Not many statistics were available for Harlem, a Highway 2 town in the middle of the northern part of the state, they have some talent of their own.
The Wildcats got double-figure scoring from three players: Cody McCabe (17 points), Lance Morgan (16) and Issac Kelly in their loss to Malta.
Harlem advanced through the consolation round of the Northern 2B district tourney and were the number two seed after falling to Poplar in the 2B semifinals, then beating Fairview in a challenge game.
The won their first two games of the Northern Divisional in Cut Bank before being routed by Malta. Glasgow was the consolation winner from the Northern tourney and advanced to the state as a three seed.
The winner of the T Falls-Harlem game will advance to the state B semifinals against the winner of the Glasgow-Lodge Grass game, Friday afternoon at 5 pm.
In the other half of the bracket, Malta plays Manhattan in the state finals opener this Thursday morning, followed by Missoula Loyola versus Three Forks at 10:30 am Thursday. The winners of those two games meet on Friday at 3:30 pm.
The state boys B championship game is set for Saturday evening at 6:30 pm.
Bluehawk Sam Burgess puts defensive pressure on a Troy player during a playoff game last month. (Tracy Scott photo)