A heart-breaking loss to a non-conference foe followed by a blow-out win over a conference opponent was the story of last week’s Thompson Falls Lady Hawks basketball adventures.

The story was somewhat similar for the boys as both teams took on Loyola and Eureka in road games this past week.

The Lady Hawks rallied in the fourth quarter this past Friday in an effort to catch Western 6B conference leading Missoula Loyola but came up two points short as they fell 44-42 on the Breakers home court.

T-Falls’ girls opened play last Tuesday with a blowout win over Eureka, 75-32, also on the road.

The Blue Hawks opened their week Tuesday with a thrilling 61-57 overtime win over Eureka, before being beaten by the 15-1 Loyola boys team 76-29.

Friday in Missoula, the Lady Hawks fell behind 14-5 after one quarter of play as the Lady Breakers defense clamped down while the offense ramped up. Both teams scored 11 points in a hard-fought second quarter, leaving Loyola’s nine point lead intact, 25-16 at the half.

Thompson Falls came out in the second half trying to slice some points off the Loyola lead and managed to trim two by outscoring the home team 14-12. T Falls then stepped up its defensive effort, holding the 11-5 Breakers to seven points while scoring 12 of their own, but in the end it was not enough to overtake the Loyola lead.

Tuesday night in Eureka was a different story as the Lady Hawks flew out to a 25-14 first-quarter lead and never looked back in picking up the 7B conference win against the Lady Lions.

T Falls added 14 more points to its lead in the second quarter and entered the halftime intermission with a commanding 43-18 lead.

The second half was more of the same as the Lady Hawks relentless defensive pressure stymied the host team while the offense ran past them.

Senior forward Ellie Baxter paced the Lady Hawks’ attack with a game-high 26 points, while senior guard Chesney Lowe tossed in 23 to aid the Thompson Falls effort. The Hawks also got 10 from Natalie Roberts as they ran their Western 7B record to 7-1 and their overall mark to 11-1.

The Thompson Falls boys began their week with an overtime road win over Eureka in a game that was close all the way.

Eureka held a 12-10 lead at the end of the first eight minutes of play, then added one to that lead as they clawed out a 26-23 halftime advantage. Thompson Falls shaved those three points off the Eureka lead over the next two quarters, setting up the overtime period.

The Blue Hawks outscored Eureka 8-4 in the extra frame to escape with the conference win.

Senior forward Jesse Claridge had a game high 18 points for the Blue Hawks, who also got 15 from Bryson LeCoure. The Hawks shot 54% from the field for the game.

The win boosted T Falls league record to 5-3 and their overall mark to 8-5. Eureka now stands at 4-4 in the conference and 5-9 on the year.

Friday night the Blue Hawks ran into the Breakers, who came in sporting a 14-1 season record. Loyola is 6-0 in Western 6B play.

The Missoula based Breakers took a 14-8 lead by the end of the first quarter, then erupted for 23 points in the second while holding T Falls to eight. At the half Loyola was up 27-16.

The two teams were back-and-forth throughout the third quarter as the home team outscored the Blue Hawks 14-12 to secure a 41-28 leading entering the final eight minutes of play.

Then the wheels fell off for the Blue Hawks when they were out-pointed 25-1 in the fourth quarter as the Breakers coasted to the win.

Reynolds Johnston had 18 points to lead a group of four players who scored in double figures for Loyola.

Claridge led T Falls with 12 points.

This week the Thompson Falls boys and girls have a crucial conference game with Bigfork. The boys play the Vikings at home this Thursday, while the girls take on the conference leading Valkyries in Bigfork.

Thompson Falls returns home Friday and Saturday for games with Mission and Seeley-Swan respectively.