If you are a coach, seeing your team come together with playoffs in the not-too-distant future is usually a good thing.

That being said, Thompson Falls head basketball coach Jake Mickelson is no doubt pleased with the progress his team has made so far.

This past weekend the Blue Hawks cruised to relatively comfortable wins over a pair of Western 7B conference opponents, lifting their league mark to 3-1, nestling them into the upper echelons of the conference standings.

The Hawks began their week with a 64-45 home win over Troy, then followed that with a convincing 46-15 road win over Superior, which has also improved since the beginning of the year.

Thompson Falls got off to a quick start against Troy, finishing the first quarter with an 11-7 lead. They built that lead to 30-16 by halftime as junior forward Bryson LeCoure and company found the range on offense and began to clamp down on the Bobcats defensively.

The two teams battled to a standstill in the third quarter when each scored 18 points. The Blue Hawks added five points to their lead over the last eight minutes of play to post the 19-point win.

Three Thompson Falls players scored in double figures, led by LeCoure’s 22 points. Kaiden Robins added 11 points and Braxton Dorscher 10 for the Hawks.

Thompson out rebounded Troy 32-31, with LeCoure’s eight boards topping the Hawks effort.

LeCoure’s point total included a trio of three pointers.

Saturday night T Falls hit the road for a game in Superior against the Bobcats and came away with a surprisingly easy win. The Hawks flew out to a 12-4 first quarter lead and never trailed, upping their advantage to 24-6 by the end of the first half.

The visitors outscored Superior 22-9 in the second half to secure the conference win and boost their overall mark to 7-5. The loss dropped Superior to 3-7 on the year and 1-3 in conference play.

Superior was led in scoring by 6-5 freshman post Landon Richards’ eight points..

Senior Nick Tessier paced T Falls in scoring with a game-best 19 points, four more than LeCoure’s 15 points.

The long and lean Hawks had a big advantage on the boards, out rebounding Superior 43-17 on the night. LeCoure grabbed a game high 15 rebounds for T Falls.

Thompson Falls travels to St. Ignatius this Friday for a game against Mission. It is their only scheduled game of the coming week.

Superior heads to Eureka this Friday for a meeting with the Lions, then returns home Saturday night for a game against Seeley.