Missoula, particularly the gym at Valley Christian High, was not a great place for a Red Devil to be this past Saturday.

As if on a mission to exorcise demons, the Eagles and Lady Eagles did not roll out the welcome mat for the visiting Red Devils and Lady Red Devils from Noxon.

Not on the basketball court.

Valley Christian chased away the Lady Devils 40-19 Saturday night, then the Red Devils boys were shown the exit 79-64 in Class C basketball play in Missoula.

The Lady Eagles flew out to an 11-3 first quarter lead against the visitors from Noxon and never looked back. They upped their lead to 20-6 at the half, then boosted the advantage to 33-13 with one quarter to play.

Both teams played even-up in the final eight minutes of play, but the initial Noxon deficit was too much for the Devils to overcome.

The loss dropped the Lady Devils to 0-5 on the year, while Valley Christian got their first victory of the year to improve to 1-5.

As if seeking revenge for the girls' loss, the Noxon boys came out strong in the first quarter of their game with the Eagles’ boys.

Valley Christian broke out to an early 14-9 lead, but the taller Noxon line-up overcame that deficit and tied the game at 19, then again at 23. Noxon took the lead in the waning moments of the first quarter and when the first eight minutes of play was over, the Red Devils held a slim 25-23 over the home-standing Eagles.

The back and forth action continued in the second quarter until just under a minute remained before halftime when VC tied the game, then took a two-point halftime lead, 40-38 as time expired in the opening half.

Valley came out in the third quarter and ran off eight straight points to take a 48-38 lead with 6:30 to play in the quarter. By the end of the third quarter, the lead had grown to 60-44 in favor of the Eagles.

Noxon tried to rally in the fourth quarter but each time they would shave some points off the VC lead, the Eagles would come back and match or extend their previous advantage.

In the end, it was too much of a second half deficit to surmount for the Red Devils, who were routed by Plains the night before.

Next up for Noxon’s boys and girls is road games this Thursday (Jan 11) for games against the Charlo Vikings. They return to the road the next night for a pair of games in Pablo versus Two Eagle River.