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The battle of the season took place last Saturday in Thompson Falls as the Hawks hosted Eureka.

The Blue Hawk girls came out blazing from the start with full court pressure to lead the game against the Lions 20-4. By the first half the Hawks were up 42-8. Coach Mike Tessier said that it was great to have senior Natalie Roberts back from her injury and to play their full team for the first time of the season, adding that, "Roberts is a spark plug on the defense." The Blue Hawks triumphed 64-22 defeating the Lions.

Senior Ellie Baxter was the top scorer with 20 points, four assists, and five rebounds. Chesney Lowe netted 15 points and had six assists and Roberts racked up 11 points and made four assists and five rebounds. "All of the girls contributed positively one way or another and I'm proud of how they play together," said Tessier.

The Blue Hawks had great shooting percentages, making 60% of their free throws and averaging well over 50% of their two-point and three-point shots. Tessier said that they had balanced scoring among the girls and were taking good shots.

The Hawk boys came up short in their home matchup with the Lions. Eureka made a tough reverse lay-up shot at the buzzer to claim victory over the Blue Hawks 43-41. "The game went well on Saturday, apart from the ending being a heartbreaker for the Blue Hawks, but it looks like we'll have some good battles with Eureka going forward this season," said Coach Jake Mickelson.

Collin Chase

Hawk senior Jesse Claridge reaches for the basket against Eureka.

In the first quarter Eureka was up 13-6 but by the end of the third quarter the Hawks were up 30-26 and in the last quarter the Lions scored 17 points against the Blue Hawks 11. Cael Thilmony scored 11 of the total points. "Thilmony was spectacular shooting the ball, finishing as our leading scorer in one of his first ever varsity games," said Mickelson.

Bryson LeCoure racked up nine points, four assists and three rebounds while Jesse Claridge netted six points, had five assists and made four rebounds. Blue Hawk Breck Ferris scored six points and made three rebounds with teammate Braxton Dorscher scoring five points, one assist and one rebound. The team pulled off a total of 16 rebounds to Eureka's 28 rebounds.

Mickelson said that the Blue Hawks "played their tail feathers off." They shot a 39.5% average on field goal attempts and netted 44.4% of their free-throws.

For all those spirited fans, the Blue Hawks have a big game this Thursday against Bigfork. The girls will be playing at home and the boys will be traveling to Bigfork.