Hawks take off for Hamilton
Open Western B against 6B champs Deer Lodge
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February 27, 2020
John Hamilton
TAKING IT TO THE RIM - Falls senior Ryan Schraeder scores as Isak Epperly of Bigfork gives chase in Libby Saturday.
LIBBY – Finishing fourth in the District 7B tournament is not the end of the world for the Thompson Falls Blue Hawk boys, in fact it could represent a new beginning, a fresh start on reaching potential post-season glory.
With the Hawks looking at new horizons in this week's Western B divisional tournament in Hamilton, which coach Jake Mickelson and his Hawks will enter as the No. 4 seed from District 7B, the Hawks think they have a realistic shot in their next big game. Not anticipating a mismatch, Mickelson looks forward to mixing it up with the District 6B champion Wardens.
"We played them in mid-January in Deer Lodge and were within three points late in the fourth quarter," he said. "That game could have went either way.
"We feel good about our chances going into the divisional tournament," he added. "The way we see it, everyone is pretty much equal, it's just a matter of showing up when it's time to play."
The Blue Hawks showed up to play last week in the 7B tourney, falling 47-42 to Eureka in Eureka Thursday and 45-36 to Bigfork in the consolation game in Libby Saturday.
"We played our tail-ends off in that game, Eureka is a good team but we gave ourselves some chances," Mickelson said. "A few plays at the end turned out to be the difference but we didn't play poorly."
Eureka went on to claim the 7B tournament crown, defeating Mission 49-41 in the chipper Saturday.
Sidney Akinde led the Hawks against Eureka with 23 points and A.J. Pacella scored 21 to pace the Lions.
Against Bigfork Saturday, Mickelson felt like the Hawks could have played better, and that the Vikings took advantage of the situation.
"We played with no sense of urgency and Bigfork was able to get the lead and hold us off," he said. "We played pretty solid defense but our rebounding wasn't that good. We allowed way too many second shots and that may have been the difference in the game."
Nathan Schraeder scored 10 points to lead the Hawks against Bigfork, Cody Burk added seven, Akinde five, Ryan Schraeder, Trey Fisher and Justin Morgan four apiece and Jack Green two.
Bryce Gilliard led Bigfork with 11 points, Isak Epperly added 10 and Colt Thorness eight.
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