Independently owned since 1905
Independently owned since 1905
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To be the best, you have to play the best. Playing the best team going in District 14C last week, the Hot Springs Savage Heat girls lost 60-25 to the undefeated Charlo Vikings in Hot Springs Friday, but you will not hear Heat coach Richard Jackson complaining about it. In fact, quite the opposite. “Charlo is again the best team in the district and probably one of the best in the state,” Jackson said of the Bret Thompson-coached Vikings. “We have no problem playing against good teams like that, that is how teams get better, and we want to get b...
Maybe the Bigfork mystique isn't what it used to be. Or maybe the Hawks are just really good. Facing one of the most dominant Class B programs in Montana over the last decade on their home floor, the Thompson Falls Blue Hawks took the Bigfork Vikings to task last Tuesday (January 12), dumping the Vikings 81-75 to register an important early season road win in District 7B conference play. After years of being subservient to the usually-powerful Vikings, the worm has turned somewhat on Bigfork the...
The Thompson Falls-Noxon Blue Hawks are blue-collar, hard-working wrestlers; they pack their lunch pails every day and faithfully go to work anytime and anywhere there is grappling to be done. Putting in the hard work again last week, coach Mike Thilmony and his Hawks wrestled at three different venues, facing off with Anaconda and Frenchtown in Frenchtown January 12, mixing it up with Arlee and Plains-Hot Springs in Arlee Friday and finally getting after it with Malta and Fairfield in Cut Bank Saturday. Scoring the dual matches, the Hawks...
Playing solid defense and rebounding wins games. Convincing his Plains Horsemen of those primary laws of basketball physics, coach Tyrel Allen and his boys broke a three-game losing streak to open the season by defeating Noxon 47-45 in Plains Friday. In other action last week, the Horsemen played well and took the Clark Fork Mountain Cats to overtime but lost 55-44 in Superior Saturday. Now 1-2 in 14C action and 1-3 overall, the Horsemen host Hot Springs Thursday and visit St. Regis Friday. Allen was glad to see his Horsemen finally get his...
It is hard to play good basketball when you don’t get the chance to practice much, just ask new Noxon coach Ben Johnson and his Red Devils. The Red Devils finally opened the COVID-19-delayed season with a game at Plains Friday and lost to the Horsemen 47-45. The Devils went into that game after canceling their first two games and then having no practices last week due to COVID-19 protocols. Johnson felt his team performed well given those circumstances. “The kids gave me a 32-minute effort,” Johnson said. “I will take it as a win inside...
Progress is in the eye of the beholder. When the beholder is the head coach, that progress means a lot more, especially when it leads to winning basketball games. Coach Scott Fredrickson and his progressive Hot Springs Savage Heat boys improved to 2-1 in District 14C play and overall with a 55-52 win over Charlo in Hot Springs Friday. The Heat have two more 14C games on tap this week, playing at Plains Thursday and hosting Noxon Friday. Fredrickson was pleased with how his team finished out the win over Charlo. Leading 40-28 at the beginning...
When the Hawks get it going the points really start flowing. The explosive Thompson Falls boys improved to 3-0 overall and in District 7B play with a pair of important conference wins last week, topping the Mission Bulldogs 59-57 in St. Ignatius Friday and then holding off a strong second-half rally to defeat the Eureka Lions 64-60 in Thompson Falls Saturday. Having a chance to open 7B play with a 4-0 record, the Hawks were set to play at Bigfork Tuesday but results of that game were not...
Making the wait well worth it, the Thompson Falls Blue Hawks hosted a double dual meet in Thompson Falls Saturday, finally beginning the delayed winter sports seasons of 2020-2021. While coach Mike Thilmony and his Hawks hosted Simms and then Cut Bank at the high school gym, the Mission Bulldogs swapped opponents with the Hawks and wrestled Cut Bank and then Simms at the Falls junior high school gym. The Hawks won their dual with the Simms Tigers grapplers 36-24 but fell to the powerful Cut...
And now for the rest of the sports story in Sanders County. Thompson Falls’ basketball and wrestling teams got out to an early start last weekend but most other teams in the county patiently bided their time and waited another week. Well, the waiting is finally over as an avalanche of prep action is now on tap for the discerning sports fan. The action starts in Hot Springs Thursday as the Savage Heat boys and girls host Clark Fork in a basketball doubleheader. Hoop action reaches a crescendo Friday as all eight county teams will be on the c...
Are you ready? Really ready to finally play some basketball? The Thompson Falls Lady Hawks were more than ready to play Saturday, opening the COVID-19 delayed season of 2020-2021 with a feel-good 67-10 road win over Troy. Letting loose after practicing, practicing and practicing some more through a game-free December, the Lady Hawks get really busy all of a sudden this week, playing two important District 7B conference games, hosting Mission Friday and Eureka Saturday. The Lady Hawk C team will...
There is very good. Then there is very, very good. Looking very, very good – some might say scary good – in their first time out on the floor together this season, the Thompson Falls Blue Hawk boys made holiday mincemeat pie out of the Troy Trojans Saturday, streaking past the stunned Lincoln County boys 76-13 in Troy. The Hawks had the game won by the end of the first quarter, racing out to a 38-2 lead after the first eight minutes and cruising to the win from there. “Our kids played like their hair was on fire,” an impressed coach Jake Mickel...
Shane Angle has been on periphery of Plains-Hot Springs high school wrestling for several years – now he is smack dab in the middle of it, and is seeming to love every minute of it. Recently named the head coach for the high school team after several years as a coaching mainstay in the local youth program, Angle is also in the position of being a parent to a wrestler as his daughter Taylor Angle will be among the Savage Horsemen’s team leaders as a junior this winter. And he had another daughter (Kenzie) wrestle for P-HS several years ago. He...
Thompson Falls will be a hotbed for high school sports in Sanders County this weekend as the winter seasons finally begin. Over a month past the time winter sports generally begin, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, wrestling and basketball seasons kick off Saturday for local fans, and both brand new beginnings feature Thompson Falls teams. The Blue Hawk wrestling squad will host a double dual meet Saturday, making the Hawks one of the first sporting teams in Montana to spring into action. The matches, involving Cut Bank, Simms and Mission will be...
With the big fella gone, who is going to step into his shoes? The Noxon Red Devil boys will have a decidedly different look this season, both on the floor and on the bench. Gone from the Devil sideline this season are the father-son team of coach Ryan Weltz and his All-State C progeny Rylan Weltz. Rylan was the heart and soul of Noxon’s attack, a 6-foot-5 pillar of strength who led the Devils in scoring and rebounding last year on his way to first team District 14C and All-State C honors. With Rylan now at Dawson Community College in G...
Heading into her second season as head coach of the Noxon Lady Red Devil basketball team, Cortney Vohs could have been excused for thinking this could have been a breakout season for her still-young but very talented Devils. The problem is, the Lady Devils are currently suffering from a few maladies that have forced Vohs and company to refocus their efforts in practice so far. To start with, Avery Burgess, now a sophomore and a returning second team District 14C all-conference pick, is nursing a shoulder injury and is unavailable to play as of...
The Plains Horsemen are in a rebuilding mode. Then again, maybe they’re not. “We did lose a lot from last year’s team,” coach Tyrel Allen said. “But I wouldn’t say we are really in a rebuilding mode. We still have some guys that can play.” These Horsemen will still have some large shoes to fill. The Horsemen proved that they pretty much owned District 14C boys basketball last winter, running to a 12-0 regular season conference record and then finishing strong by winning two more games and claiming the 14C tournament title. The Horsemen comp...
It will look a lot different this year but organizers are still planning on holding the 22nd edition of the New Year’s Day Fun Run and Walk. There will some things old and some things new in the Fun Run as runners celebrate the christening of 2021 in traditional fashion this Friday morning. As usual, the race will begin and end at the Elks Lodge east of Thompson Falls only runners will not be competing at the same time. Using a format perfected at the Huckleberry Run earlier this year, runners and walkers will be allowed to navigate the w...
Maybe they were born to run. Playing run-and-gun basketball and having a lot of fun doing it, the Thompson Falls Lady Hawks enjoyed one of the best campaigns in school history last winter, winning the District 7B tournament championship and making a strong showing at the Western B divisional tourney. The Lady Hawks compiled an impressive record of 19-5 last year, finishing third in the Western B and just missing a berth into the State B tournament. The district tournament title from last winter is only the second in school history. The Lady Haw...
The Blue Hawk boys are looking good heading into the 2021 season, but they are tired of looking at each other. “These guys want to play someone else,” coach Jake Mickelson said. “We are ready to face an opponent, we have played each other a lot and are ready to play someone new.” As much as they would like to officially get going right now, the Hawks are not scheduled to open season play until January 2 at Troy. Like all prep teams in Montana, the Hawks have been practicing since December 7. The Hawks have three returning all-conference players...
It would have been the 40th annual, but now it will be the first one missed in four decades. Due to the circumstances of 2020 – namely the COVID-19 pandemic – the 2020 Keg Bowl has been cancelled, Blue Hawk Gridiron Club president Doug Willhite announced earlier this week. One of the longest running sports events in Sanders County history, the Keg Bowl, a friendly game of flag football played every year (on the Saturday between Christmas and New Year’s Day) since 1980, will sadly not be played this Saturday. “It would have been the 40th an...
The Plains Trotters look young if you take a look at their roster, but a lot of these Trotters already have some basketball chops, and have been around the game awhile now. “On paper we look pretty young but most of these girls played a lot last year,” coach Eddie Fultz said. “We are actually fairly experienced, and I think you will see that pay off for us a little this season.” Sophomore Kimmy Curry, who was somehow left off the District 14C all-conference team last winter after an impressive freshman season, is the Trotters’ floor leader an...
Savage Heat boys basketball is alive and well, with practices ongoing; second-year head coach Scott Fredrickson only hopes it stays that way during these crazy pandemic times. Although his team has been looking good on the floor, Fredrickson does fear what could occur off the floor, in the form of more strange and unusual COVID-19 activity. “We were shut down from practicing for three days so far but are doing about as well as could be expected,” Fredrickson said last week. “The girls had to shut down more than we did after a positive test...
Countless miles later, all those miles put in are now paying off. Thompson Falls cross country stars Justin Morgan and Josey Neesvig have parlayed successful high school running careers into helping pay their ways through college, Morgan for the Montana Tech Orediggers and Neesvig for the Carroll College Fighting Saints. Both were awarded combined athletic/academic scholarships and they also plan to compete for their college track and field teams at the schools of their choice. A two-time All-State B performer for Thompson Falls, Morgan...
It will look a lot different this year but organizers are still planning on holding the 22nd edition of the New Year’s Day Fun Run and Walk. There will some things old and some things new in the Fun Run as runners celebrate the christening of 2021 in traditional fashion. As usual, the race will begin and end at the Elks Lodge east of Thompson Falls only runners will not be competing at the same time. Using a format perfected at the Huckleberry Run earlier this year, runners and walkers will be allowed to navigate the well-marked course from t...
COVID-19 and the devastating effects the disease had on him during a trying stay at Clark Fork Valley Hospital has compelled Dennis Haynes to come forward and tell his story. "You do not want to get this, it is a really bad deal," Haynes said last week from his home. "People need to realize how dangerous this is, and to do everything they can possibly do to avoid getting it. "Especially those with other issues to begin with," he added. "If your body is not strong enough to deal with it, this stu...
