Lady Hawks waltz to wins

It's all about the tempo. And the faster that tempo is, the better the Lady Hawks like it.

"Our focus is to have a relentless tempo," Thompson Falls coach Chadd Laws said after his girls had steamrolled Plains (70-36 in Plains Friday) and Troy (64-11 in Thompson Falls Saturday). "We want to be active on defense and trigger scoring opportunities for ourselves in the process.

"So far, it has been working," he added.

Indeed, the relentless ladies from Thompson Falls took a big lead early in both games last week and cruised in for the wins after that.

Now 1-0 in District 7B conference action and 5-1 overall, the Lady Hawks host Mission Thursday and then join the Hawk boys for the annual trek to the north end of Lincoln County to play a boy/girl doubleheader in Eureka Saturday.

"Mission was one of the preseason favorites in our district and they have some very good guards that are able to work the ball inside to their bigger girls," Laws offered. "Eureka is another tough team that was picked to do well, they have lost a few close games to some other good teams but are also a legitimate threat. And the long road trip up there is always a little bit of a challenge."

In front of a packed house in Plains Friday, the Lady Hawks quickly took control. The score was 19-7 after one quarter and 31-14 by halftime.

Freshman sensation Ellie Baxter led the Lady Hawk win with 18 points, six rebounds and four steals, jumping Jody Detlaff added 14 points, 12 rebounds, five steals and four assists, and Megan Baxter rang up 13 points, six rebounds, five steals and three blocked shots.

With everyone seeing playing time, Riley Wilson added six points, two steals and two assists, Faith Frields five points and six boards, and Belle Cooper and Elli Pardee four points apiece. Pardee also dished out three assists and Cooper had six rebounds.

Senior Reagan Hanks went three-for-three from the floor in scoring six points while adding three rebounds.

Please see other story for Plains scoring.

The game with Troy was essentially over after the first quarter as the Hawks scored more than enough points in the first quarter (22) to win the game.

Meagan Baxter canned 12 points to lead the Hawk win, Ellie Baxter chipped in with 11, Frields 10 (converting two of three shots on 3-pointers), Pardee eight, Cooper seven, Wilson and Detlaff six each, Hanks three and Caity Alexander one as all nine Falls girls scored in the game.

The Hawks' steals to turnovers ratio was outstanding as Thompson Falls grabbed 27 steals but committed only 13 turnovers.

Montana Rice counted five points to lead Troy, Talis Becquart added three, Emma Johnson two and Izzy Ramirez one.