One of the best Blue Hawk boys basketball teams in history put an exclamation point on their amazing season last week, completing a stirring tournament run for Thompson Falls by winning fourth place in the State B tournament at Metra Park in Billings.

The fourth place win represents the Blue Hawks' best finish in a state tournament since the Steve Previs-led Thompson Falls boys brought home a second place trophy from the 1953 State C tourney in Conard (see View for more).

The architect of this latest local hoop dream come true, current Hawk coach Jake Mickelson was very proud of what his 2021 team produced for their fans, their school and their community over these past few weeks of intense basketball, ending the season with eight games played in 10 days (including the Western B tourney in Eureka from the week before), defeating three ranked opponents along the way and taking on all three No. 1 seeds from the Northern, Southern and Western divisions in Billings before it was all over.

After tipping off the tournament with one of the biggest upsets of the year, trashing Shelby, the No. 1 team from the north, 70-34 Wednesday, the Hawks then lost a hotly contested semifinal game with Manhattan, the No. 1 team from the south, 60-55 in overtime Thursday.

Facing Florence Friday, and the Falcons were the No. 1 seed from the Western B tourney in Eureka, the Hawks stared down the Falcons 65-52 in overtime to earn a spot in the State B consolation game. Huntley Project, the No. 2 team from the south, held off a late rally by Thompson Falls to win 44-37 to claim the third place State B trophy.

The heated semifinal with Manhattan, which could have put the Hawks in the championship against Lodge Grass (which as the No. 3 seed from the Southern B defeated Manhattan for the title Saturday night) was still fresh in Mickelson's mind early this week.

"We were a gust of wind away from winning that game with Manhattan, a break here or there and we could have been in the championship game," he mused. "But what I was really proud of was the way the kids responded afterwards.

"They wanted that State B championship bad and that loss stung a lot," he added. "The kids were incredibly motivated to win over there, and believed that they could."

Looking at the games one by one, the win over Shelby was probably the Hawks' defining moment of the season. The stunning takedown of the Coyotes, led by University of Montana recruit Rhett Reynolds and returning All-Stater Logan Leck, scrambled the State B bracket the first day of the tournament.

Mickelson said Kade Pardee played the biggest role in shutting down Reynolds and that Dante Micheli made Leck's life heck on the offensive end against the Hawks. Building a 15-13 lead after one quarter, the Hawks blew out the Coyotes 24-7 in the second to take a 39-20 lead into halftime.

The Hawks kept the heat on in the second half, extending the lead beyond the 35-point, running clock rule before closing it out. "That was crazy, having a running clock in a game at the state tournament," Mickelson said. "We thought we could beat anybody that night and maybe we could have."

Micheli scored 23 points, speared eight rebounds, passed out four assists and came up with three steals to lead the Hawks offensively, and Pardee was good for 18 points, three assists and two steals.

Nathan Schraeder added eight points, six rebounds and a pair of assists, Justin Morgan five points, Tristan Subatch four, Roman Sparks and Josh Wilhite three each, and Cody Burk, Ben Cooper and Jesse Claridge two apiece.

Leck and Reynolds led Shelby with 15 and nine points each, respectively, but had to work very hard for those points.

The semifinal with Manhattan was an instant classic, and a game that Mickelson felt the Hawks just barely let slip away.

Trailing 19-13 in the second quarter, the Hawks turned to the longball to get back in the game. First, Subatch rained in a trey to make the score 19-16. Then Sparks got in on the act with three 3-pointers in the matter of about a minute and a-half of game time.

Hitting his first 3-ball from the left wing, Sparks then splashed two in from the right side to give the Hawks a 25-22 lead, before Manhattan responded to take a 29-28 lead into halftime.

It was a back-and-forth, toe-to-toe battle the rest of the way with numerous lead changes. With less than a minute remaining and Manhattan leading 49-47, Pardee made a strong scoring move for a two-pointer to send the game into overtime tied at 49-49.

The Tigers made six of six free throws in over to time to pull out the win. Free throw shooting may have been the ultimate difference as Manhattan converted 17 of 20 (85%) while the Hawks made only five of 11 (45.5%).

"What a game!" Mickelson said. "We had our chances, played great, just came up a little short."

Pardee turned in another superb effort in leading the Hawks, scoring 17 points, pulling down 10 rebounds and passing out five assists. Burk provided outstanding interior support, scoring 12 points and clearing another eight rebounds.

Sparks scored nine points on his three treys, Schraeder eight, Subatch five, and Micheli four.

Tate Bowler scored 22 points for Manhattan and Caden Holgate 16.

Knocked back into the consolation bracket, the Hawks' next opponent was familiar Florence, a team that had won the Western B tourney but did not have to play the Hawks along the way in that tournament.

Adding extra spice to the encounter was the fact that the Falcons are led by Mickelson's little brother Beau Neal, and that the Falcons felt they deserved revenge from an 80-71 loss suffered to the Hawks near the end of the regular season.

Refusing to buckle under the State B pressure, the Hawks won another classic overtime encounter, running away with this one on the strength of a 17-4 win of the extra period.

Micheli's effective defense on Neal, who still managed a hard-earned 21 points (including a spinning layup near the end of regulation that forced overtime), was a key. Several inches shorter that Neal, Micheli largely neutralized the Falcon star most of the game.

"Our athleticism let us do some things like that," Mickelson said. "We had guys this year that could play any position, and that gave us a lot of flexibility in what we could do."

Micheli scored 22 points (with three of five shooting beyond the arc) and dished out five assists to lead the Hawk win, Pardee was good for 21 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals, Schraeder added nine points, three rebounds and two assists, Morgan six points and two steals, Subatch five points and four rebounds and Burk two points and four boards.

JP Briney and Blake Shoupe added 10 points each for Florence.

Playing their eighth game in 10 days, the Hawks looked like a tired bunch early on in the consolation game with Huntley Project and managed only 11 points in the first half, which ended with Huntley ahead 26-11.

The Hawks rallied late to make things interesting, almost recapturing the magic once more that had gotten them this far, but Huntley held on for the win and the State B third place trophy Thompson Falls was every bit as worthy of.

Schraeder led the Hawks with 10 points, Micheli scored nine, Pardee eight, Burk four, and Subatch and Morgan three apiece.

State B tournament MVP Noah Bouchard led Huntley to the win with 24 points and Jey Hofer added seven.

Left with indelible memories, fourth place in the State B tourney and a season record of 17-7, Mickelson reflected on the Hawks' incredible season, which will now go down as the new standard for future Thompson Falls teams.

"The assistants and I talked during the season and we felt that if we played our best, we were capable of beating anyone and were hoping we would get the chance to prove it in the tournaments," he said. "And then the kids went out and did it.

"We feel like we maximized our tournament experience," he added. "It would have been nice to have the crowds and to have been able to watch the other games like you normally would do but, all in all, a great experience for the boys, and for us as coaches."

John Hamilton

ALMOST UNSTOPPABLE Kade Pardee was one of six players named to the State B All-Tournament team.

Mickelson's assistant coaches are Scott Pardee and Shawn Morgan.