The cream, it has been said, rises to the top. Sometimes it has to be churned a little longer than other times, but the axiom holds true.

So it goes for the Thompson Falls Lady Hawks basketball team.

The season started out with new ingredients that produced mixed results.

But after this past weekend of play, from which the Lady Hawks emerged atop a four-game winning streak, T Falls is once again playing at a high level.

They began this past week with a 77-8 “churning” of the Lady Trojans from Troy, then picked up their fourth victory in a row via a 58-38 win over Superior.

The pair of wins caused their season record to rise to 7-4, and their 3-1 Western 7B mark to lift to the upper levels of the conference standings.

The Lady Hawks wasted no time mixing it up with Troy, which is still seeking its first win of the year. T Falls jumped out to a 17-2 lead after one quarter of play as their tall, athletic front court quickly established dominance over the out-gunned Lady Trojans.

By halftime the Hawks lead had climbed to 45-4, invoking the Mercy rule that keeps the clock running except for time outs once one team is 40 or more points ahead.

And things did not get any better for the visitors in the second half, as the Lady Hawks continued to run past Troy, outscoring them 20-4 in quarter number three. Going into the final quarter of regulation, the score was 65-8.

And the score would stay that way...for Troy, as T Falls defense held them scoreless while adding another dozen points to their lead.

Sophomore forward Gabbi Hannum led all scorers with 19 points for the Hawks. Delainy Gerhard added 14 for the victors.

Saturday night Thompson Falls traveled to Superior for a meeting with the Lady Bobcats and once again grabbed an early, first-quarter lead and never looked back.

After the first eight minutes of play, the Lady Hawks were up 10-4, then 21-12 at the half.

Despite another strong game from Superior freshman Josie Crabb, who finished with a game high 18 points and continued her strong defensive play and rebounding, the Lady Hawks were able to tack on three more points to their lead by halftime and headed into the break with a 21-12 advantage.

Superior’s never quit young team outscored T Falls in the third quarter, trimming a single point off the halftime lead in the process. But the Lady Hawks amped it up in the fourth quarter to finish with a 20-point victory.

Lady Cats junior forward Braelyn Mangold chipped in 13 points to the Cats effort.

Three T Falls players scored in double figures, led by Solveig Nygaard’s 17 points. Also scoring in double digits for the Cats were Hannum with 14 points and Addie Pardee, who added 10.

The Hawks have just one game on their schedule this week, a trip to Mission this Friday (Jan 26). Superior takes to the road this Friday for a game with Eureka, then returns home the following night where they will play Seeley.