Hawk boys, girls beat Plains

Thompson Falls Blue Hawks welcomed the Plains Horsemen and Trotters to a game last Friday. The Lady Hawks defeated the Trotters 68-30. The teams were neck and neck in the middle of the second quarter 19-17, Hawks up by two points. Coach Mike Tessier said that Plains was a tough team to defend.

The Lady Hawks then took charge with some good ball moving. Tessier said that the team effort was great; excellent passing and execution of plays. By the third quarter the Hawks were up 54-27. Tessier shared that they had been working on a new defense during practice which was implemented in the game. In the fourth quarter they only let three points get by.

Contributing to the Hawks points were players Avery Burgess with 27, Gabi Hannum with 14, and Chesney Lowe with 10 points. Burgess pulled off 10 rebounds, Hannum eight and Lowe achieved nine.

Carlie Wagoner was the Trotters top scorer with 14 points. "She has been consistently stepping up and being our leading scorer, so I've been really proud of her," said Coach Kylie Ishler. Ishler added that they were looking forward to playing Thompson Falls again.

On the boys side, the Hawks triumphed over the Horsemen 69-45 in a tight contest up until the last quarter. In the second quarter the teams were back and forth, point for point, ending at 30-27, Thompson Falls in the lead. Then in the third quarter the Hawks gained a wider edge ending at 44-37. In the middle of the fourth, the Hawks were really able to run away with it.

"Plains did a nice job of hitting big shots to keep the game close throughout and we were finally able to catch a good rhythm on offense there in the fourth quarter," said Coach Jake Mickleson.

The Hawks pulled off 57% of their two-point attempts and 46% of their 3-point attempts. Hawks Bryson LeCoure contributed 20 points and Braxton Dorscher scored 16 points. Jesse Claridge made 13 points, nine rebounds and seven assists and Breck Ferris achieved 10 points and five rebounds for the game.

"We are continuing to find ways to improve each day and one of our focuses over break will be tightening the screws on the offensive and defensive end as well as finishing shots around the rim," said Mickleson.

Plains Coach Tyrell Allen said that the defense got tired, the rebounds went down and the fouls went up in the fourth quarter. He commented that Eddy Perianez played a "lights out and pretty solid game." Jayden Weeks scored a total of 18 points making four out of five shots. The team was also seven for 14 in their three-point shot attempts.