Lady Hawks win 2 of 3

Sisters doing what sisters do.

With little sister Ellie Baxter out, big sister Megan and her other Lady Hawks sisters got busy last week as Thompson Falls played three great games in five days, defeating Stillwater Christian 82-35 in Thompson Falls Tuesday, shading the Mission Lady Bulldogs 55-46 on the road Thursday and finally dropping a wild 55-48 decision to the powerful Class C Seeley-Swan Blackhawks in Seeley Lake Saturday.

Now 6-2 overall and 5-1 in District 7B play, the Lady Hawks host winless Troy Friday, and then embark on one of their toughest three-game stretches of the season, playing District 6B-leading Anaconda on the road Saturday, before hosting defending State B champion Loyola January 5 and playing at District 7B-leading Eureka Jan. 6.

“We are really looking forward to these three games, we plan on treating them kind of like tournament games,” coach Chadd Laws said. “These are games where we can try some different things, and see how we match up for later on.”

Hindered by the temporary loss of starting point guard Ellie Baxter – who was in COVID-19 isolation protocol – Ellie’s big sister Megan came up big last week, earning a nomination as the western Montana player of the week for her fine work.

The big problem now is Megan went into COVID-19 protocol early this week. Ironically, little sister Ellie is expected to come off the list Thursday. Laws has given up on trying to figure out who will be out and for how long with the virus rules in place.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” he said when asked about when Megan could return. “We will keep doing as instructed but I don’t know where the bar is at with stuff like this right now.”

Looking back at last week’s contests, the Hawks still had Ellie Baxter in the lineup Tuesday against Stillwater Christian, and she scored nine points in that easy win. Megan Baxter led the winners with 14 points, Jody Detlaff added 13, Faith Frields nine and Danni VanHuss two.

Madison Morken scored 21 point for Stillwater but no other Cougar managed more than six.

In the big win in Mission, Megan Baxter very nearly registered a rare triple double with her monster effort resulting in 23 points, 21 rebounds and nine blocked shots. Detlaff added 12 points and nine rebounds, Frields seven points, Caity Alexander six, Riley Wilson four and Elli Pardee three.

Laws liked how his team covered for the loss of Ellie Baxter. “It forced us to play girls in positions they aren’t used to playing,” he said. “And in the long run, that has to make us a better team.”

The tough game in Seeley Lake was a good one for the Lady Hawks, Laws said, even if it did result in a loss.

“Seeley is a very good team, maybe the best we have seen this season,” he said. “They are deep, very athletic and have good size underneath.”

Megan Baxter turned in another great effort in leading the Lady Hawks, scoring 18 points, securing eight reboundd, passing out three assists and blocking three shots, Detlaff was good for nine points and 10 rebounds, and Wilson ten points and five rebounds.

Frields and Pardee scored five points apiece and Alexander one, besides collecting six rebounds.

Scoring for Seeley-Swan was not available.