Sanders County Ledger - Your Best Source For Sanders County News

The Blue Hawks took on Bigfork last Tuesday. The girls lost to the undefeated Valkyries 72-41 in Bigfork. Coach Mike Tessier said that they scored more points than any other team against Bigfork so they were proud of that feat. He added that they had been practicing defensive and offensive schemes that worked out well for them in the game.

Ellie Baxter was the leading scorer with 12 points. She grabbed six rebounds, made three assists and stole one. Chesney Lowe racked up nine points, rebounded one, made two assists and stole two, Avery Burgess scored eight, had one assist and one steal, Gabi Hannum hooped five, rebounded five, had one assist and one steal, Olivia Fitchett scored three points, Delainey Gerhard grabbed three rebounds and Alivia McCormick hooped two points and rebounded two.

The boys game against Bigfork was at home and the Vikings won 60-32. The Blue Hawks started out slow in the first half 27-6 and then started gaining propulsion in the third quarter and enough force in the fourth to tie with 17 points each. The team made 72% of their free-throws.

Jesse Claridge scored eight points and rebounded two, Bryson LeCoure shot seven and rebounded one, Nick Tessier hooped four, rebounded four and made one assist, Braxton Dorscher hooped four baskets, grabbed four rebounds and made two assists, Jacob Britt shot three points and rebounded four, JT Taylor, Kaiden Robbins and Ben Cooper scored two points each.

On Friday night the Blue Hawks hosted Mission for a couple of close matches. For the Lady Hawks it was a one point game with the Bulldogs prevailing 54-53. Tessier said that they had beaten Mission by three points the last time they played and Mission had to beat them by three points this game for the number two seed going into Districts. The game bounced back and forth the whole time. "We learned a lot from that game," said Tessier, adding that the girls are playing their best basketball and looking forward to the tournaments and championships.

Baxter shot 20 points, rebounded eight and stole three, Lowe scored 12, rebounded four, made four assists and stole one, Natalie Roberts hooped seven points, rebounded one, made three assists and stole three, Hannum racked up six points, nine rebounds, one assist and one steal, Burgess shot six points, rebounded six and stole three and McCormick scored two points.

For the boys it was a close game, 68-61; Mission with the win. Thompson Falls was down twenty points at the half, 44-22 then they charged ahead to lead the last half 39-24 but it wasn't enough for the win. "The game vs. Mission was a fun one. We wished we hadn't dug ourselves such a deep hole but the boys responded well and got themselves back in the game. Unfortunately we just ran out of time," said Coach Mickelson.

The Blue Hawks came away with an astonishing 47 total rebounds for the game. Claridge shot 17 points, rebounded eight and made three assists, Britt racked up 13 points, rebounded seven, and had three assists, LeCoure scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds, Cooper hooped eight points and rebounded seven, Dorscher scored four and rebounded two, Alex Menzel hooped two points and had the most rebounds with ten, Tessier shot two and made two assists and Taylor scored two points and snatched five rebounds.

The stands were packed Saturday night for the Blue Hawk basketball team's Senior Night. The seniors commemorated were: Jacob Britt, Alex Menzel, Ben Cooper, Jesse Claridge, Breck Ferris, JT Taylor, Alivia McCormick, Ellie Baxter, Natalie Roberts, Chesney Lowe and Avery Burgess.

Starting the games off in the fun combat with division C Seeley-Swan were the boy Blue Hawks. The Black Hawks started the quarter off with a 3-pointer and then Taylor made his two-free throws. Claridge sank in the shots from the floor to help gain a 9-6 lead before the Black Hawks came back making the last two shots to jump ahead 12-11 for the quarter.

LeCoure started off the second quarter with a three-pointer and at 6:30 the game was tied 14-14, then Britt launched a three-pointer and Claridge kept driving in the shots to lead the half 28-22. Cooper sank the first shot to start the third quarter. Menzel dropped one in, Claridge pounded in the baskets and Britt shot a three-pointer to give the Hawks 41 points. But the Black Hawks lofted a few of their own three-pointers to end the third with 40 points. The Blue Hawks were up by six at 5:11 on the clock and up by one at 3:15 on the clock and then it was 50-50 at 1:56 and the fans were ecstatic. "'Big Shot Britt" hit the game winner with 20 seconds to go and the boys had a great defensive stand to preserve the victory on Senior Night," said Mickelson. The game ended 53-50.

The Hawks ran away with the free-throws, landing a 76.99% success rate. They snatched up a stellar 42 rebounds to the Black Hawks 22. Claridge led the team with 22 points, 12 rebounds and one assist, LeCoure shot 12, rebounded five and made one assist, Britt racked up eight points, rebounded six and had three assists, Cooper hooped four points and rebounded six, Tessier scored three points and grabbed four rebounds, Menzel shot two and rebounded two and Taylor shot two and rebounded three.

"Districts this week will prove to be a challenge. We've already played these teams twice so we both know each other's tendencies and personnel. It really will come down to effort and execution and our guys are ready to prove themselves this week," said Coach Mickelson.

Coach Tessier said that it was a fun game for the girls because Seeley-Swan is in a different division, so it wasn't a critical win. The Blue Hawks did prevail 57-48 but not without a fight. Seeley-Swan scored first to start off the game. Baxter and Burgess both shot three-pointers to up the lead, 18-12, for the quarter. Roberts started the second quarter off with a three point sinker and Roberts sealed the half, the Lady Hawks up 27-20.

Jennifer Curran

Jacob Britt

The Black Hawks ignited, ending the third with a three-pointer and two point drive from the field, leaving Thompson Falls up by one, 38-37. Baxter started the fourth quarter off with a three-pointer and the crowd went bonkers. Kyla Conley swooped in a three-pointer for the Black Hawks and with another basket they were up 42-41 with six minutes on the clock. With another three-pointer Conley bumped Seeley-Swan up to 45-41. The race was on with Roberts and Burgess scoring, then Lowe popping in three in a row to gain a 53-45 lead. Burgess made her two free-throws and Roberts knocked in the last shot to end the game at 57-48.

The girls are playing Friday evening in Eureka for their first District game and getting another shot with Mission. The boys played Troy on Tuesday and the results were not in by press time but will likely be playing Friday, depending on Tuesday's results.