Hawk boys head to Western B in Ronan

If it’s anybody’s to be had, why can’t the Blue Hawk boys be one the two somebodies that wins their ways out?

Coach Jake Mickelson and his dangerous Thompson Falls Blue Hawks will go into the Western B divisional basketball tournament in Ronan Thursday through Saturday thinking they have as good a chance as anyone to be one of the two teams earning their way through and on to the State B tournament in Missoula March 8-10.

The tricky part will be actually navigating their ways through a tough field of teams in Ronan to get that done.

The winners of second place in final District 7B standings, the Hawks will open the Western B tourney in the final game of the first day, taking on the No. 3 team from 6B in Florence at 5:40 p.m. Thursday.

If the Hawks win that game (and they defeated Florence in Thompson Falls way back in December) and get through to the next round, their likely

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opponent there would probably be Loyola.

Falls fans might remember the Loyola Rams from another game in Thompson Falls earlier this season. The Hawks had apparently had that game won, but a lane violation on a made free throw negated that charity toss, which would have given Thompson Falls an insurmountable four-point lead with only five seconds left in the game.

Loyola then made an improbable 3-pointer at the buzzer and went on to win that game in overtime.

Clearly, the Hawks belong in the same gym with Western B’s top teams, the next question is; do they belong in the same gym as the State B’s top teams in March?

“We really think we have a shot,” Mickelson said. “Outside of Bigfork, who has beaten everyone, everybody else has been trading wins. There is not a lot of separation between us, Florence, Loyola and Anaconda. This thing really does look pretty wide open going in.”

And the Hawks may be just a little better now than they were earlier in the season due to the recent addition of several players who just became eligible, including Jake Long, who scored 10 points and pulled down seven rebounds in last week’s regular season final game, a 73-37 win over Troy in Thompson Falls Friday.

Payton Frields led the Hawks to that win with 15 points and also collected seven rebounds, Dylan Beckman went 2-for-3 from 3-point land and added 12 points, four rebounds, five assists and two steals, and Nate Thibeault had eight points, four assists and two steals.

Danny Hoisington chipped in with six points, five rebounds and two blocked shots, Grant Lundberg and Kade Pardee added five points each, Alex Erosa four points, Michael Johnson and Ryan Schraeder three apiece and Trey Fisher two.

AJ Faur scored 12 points for Troy and Alex Freund nine.

Mickelson likes the fact that Bigfork and Anaconda are on the other side of the bracket in Ronan, meaning the Hawks wouldn’t potentially see either of those teams until as late as Saturday, hopefully in the chipper if all goes well.

In the meantime, he is concentrating on Florence.

“Florence started the season really well but has struggled some lately due to injuries and illness,” he said. “Marcus Zeiler is their leader, as he goes they go, he is a big part of what they do.

“Our main goal is to limit his touches and try to keep them out of the transition game they like so much.”

The tournament will tip off Thursday morning with Bigfork, the No. 1 seed from 7B playing 6B’s No. 4 Deer Lodge Wardens at 8 a.m., followed by Anaconda (No. 2 6B) playing 7B’s third seeded Eureka Lions at 9:40 a.m.

The No. 1 6B seed, Loyola will face Troy, No. 4 from 7B, at 4 p.m. and the Hawks will then play Florence at 5:40 p.m.