The playoffs in any sport often produce unexpected results, mostly because the level of talent and ability of the players increases as the postseason ladder gets steeper.

That being said, the Thompson Falls girls basketball teams' earlier than expected exit from the Western Division Class B tournament in Anaconda was not really due to any major upset along the way.

The Lady Hawks, who entered the tournament as the District 7B second seed, opened the three-day event Thursday morning with a 61-49 win over 6B conference member Florence Carlton, sending T Falls into the semi-finals against Missoula Loyola, which knocked the Hawks into the consolation bracket with a 59-45 win.

Next up in the double-elimination tourney for T Falls was a meeting with tournament host Anaconda, who ended the Lady Hawks’ tournament hopes and closed out their season with a 52-39 win.

Thursday’s opening win over Florence Carlton’s Lady Falcons was a good indicator of the strength of the senior led Thompson Falls crew, which closed out the year with a 14-7 record.

T Falls scratched out a 16-15 first quarter lead, then used their superior rebounding and passing skills to go up 35-19 at the half.

Florence-Carlton staged a mild rally in the third quarter, cutting four points off the Hawks lead and leaving the score at 45-33 with one quarter to play.

But behind the scoring of seniors Ellie Baxter, who had a team best 16 points, Natalie Roberts (13) and Chesney Lowe (11) the Lady Hawks had enough to hold on and secure the opening day victory.

Maggie Schneiter had a game high 18 for the Lady Falcons.

The win sent the Lady Hawks into the second round match-up with 6B District champion Loyola, which came into the game with a 16-6 record on the year.

The Breakers jumped out to a 19-12 lead after the first eight minutes of play, only to see the Lady Hawks trim three points off that advantage in the second quarter.

Loyola was up 27-23 at the half.

Both teams traded buckets even up in the third quarter, which ended with Loyola still holding a four point, 41-37 lead with one quarter to play.

The Missoula-based Breakers then outscored T Falls 18-8 in the final quarter to secure the win and the right to move on to Saturday evening’s Divisional championship game with Bigfork. The unbeaten, top-ranked Valkyries won the tournament title by a 63-30 score.

The loss to Loyola sent the Lady Hawks to the consolation bracket where they ran into tournament host Anaconda and wound up losing to the Lady Copperheads 52-39.

T Falls fell behind early, trailing 19-8 at the conclusion of the initial quarter. Anaconda kept up the pressure and emerged from the first half with a 32-17 advantage.

The Lady Hawks came out in the third quarter and outscored Anaconda 14-8, but the Lady Copperheads reversed that count in the fourth quarter and held on for the victory.

Baxter led the Hawks with 16 points, while Meela Mitchell scored a game-high 17 points for the victors.

Graduation will have a significant impact on the Lady Hawks for next year as seniors Baxter, Roberts, Lowe and Avery Burgess played their last games for the Hawks during the Anaconda event.

However, the Lady Hawks return a solid and talented group of juniors, sophomores and ninth graders for next year, led by junior Hattie Neesvig, freshman Gabi Hannum and sophomore Olivia Fitchett.