For the Plains Horsemen, their 70-44 win over the rival Blue Hawks in Thompson Falls Thursday was mission accomplished. They started fast, played fast and moved to the big win.

For the host Hawks it was a painful loss that potentially puts the Falls boys in a very precarious post season position, although there is still time to change that situation.

Cutting to the point, there will be no District 7B tournament this year and, as it turns out, there is no play-in game for earning one of the conference’s top four spots for entry into the Western B this year either.

Curiously, District 7B is the only Class B district in Montana which will not have a conference tournament this year, after many years of having one like everyone else.

As the standings sit now, the Hawks and Horsemen would tie for fourth place in 7B and Plains would be awarded the fourth conference slot into the Western B based on points scored versus each other head to head this season.

“It is what it is,” Thompson Falls coach Jake Mickelson said. “It would be nice if we had a district tournament like every other Class B district in Montana, but this is what we have to play with in mind this year.”

In spite of this ongoing tournament-less situation, the latest game between the Horsemen and the Hawks was another entertaining, fast-paced affair played in front of an energetic crowd of fans from both communities at TFHS.

Plains coach Tyrel Allen had said he would like his boys to get off a fast start in this game and the Horsemen did not disappoint, roaring out to a 24-6 lead after the first quarter and eventually turning in their best collective 32 minutes of the season to streak past the rival Hawks.

“We did a much better job of defense on the perimeter this time,” Allen said citing the Hawks’ comeback win over the Horsemen in Plains earlier this season for contrast. “We rebounded better and we shot the ball well, it was a really nice effort by the guys.”

The Horsemen featured a balanced scoring attack against the Hawks as Cooper Meredith and Ben Aldridge each scored 13 points, Chase DePoe added 12, Eddie Siebert 11, Jackson Revier eight, Jarrett Weeks seven, Jeff Siebert four and Tristan Allen 2.

Mickelson thought his Hawks didn’t answer the bell for the big game with the Horsemen like he would have hoped. “It wasn’t our best effort,” he said. “Falling behind big like we did early didn’t help and we got beat on the boards pretty bad as well.”

Ethan Burgess led the Hawks against Plains with 12 points, three rebounds, two assists and six steals, Kellen LeCoure added 10 points and four rebounds, Jason Myers six points, four rebounds, two assists and three steals, Landon Baird six points and five steals, Brylon VonElswyk six points, two boards and four steals, and Jacob Howell and Tristan Kelly two points apiece.

Plains has a busy week on tap with three games scheduled while the Hawks’ only contest is with Troy in Thompson Falls Friday. The Horsemen have three home games, hosting Noxon in a non-conference game Tuesday, and returning to 7B play with Mission Friday and Eureka Saturday.

Any additional conference wins in the remaining weeks of regular season play by either Plains or Thompson Falls are potentially crucial for both teams, and could alter the race for entry into the Western B tournament.

    SWOOPING IN on a scoring move, Falls sophomore Kellen LeCoure tests the defense of Chase DePoe of Plains in Thompson Falls Thursday. (John Hamilton/vp-mi)