This past week, the Hays Lodgepole Thunderbirds played a pair of District 9C contests beginning with North Star on Friday night, where the Thunderbirds fell 40-35. The following night, the Thunderbirds hosted the Chester Joplin Inverness Hawks and, while doing their best to stay close, it was the Hawks that took a 49-36 win.

Friday night in Gilford, the Thunderbirds got off to a fast start with a three-point bomb from junior Hadley Not Afraid. Senior Nina Fox added six more points, helping the Thunderbirds score 11 points in the opening frame while the defense held the Knights to just 8 points.

Fox began the second quarter with a long three, but the offense managed just seven points in the frame. Meanwhile, the defense allowed 11, sending the teams to the locker room with North Star up 19-18.

Senior Imagin Fox knocked down the triple, but again the Thunderbirds had a hard time scoring points with just nine in the third quarter, while the Knights scored fourteen to extend the lead to 33-27. The fourth quarter was the best the Thunderbirds played offensively, getting another three from Not Afraid and four more from Imagin Fox. The defense held the Knights to just five points in the fourth quarter, just enough for North Star to pull out a 43-36 win.

On Saturday, the Thunderbirds welcomed the Chester Joplin Inverness Hawks to town. The Thunderbirds opened up with a three-point bucket from NotAfraid and baskets from Shaydyn Blount and sophomore Chaynell McConnell while allowing 15 points to the Hawks. Trailing 15-9 to start the second quarter, the Thunderbirds looked to ignite the offense a bit. The Thunderbirds got points from four individuals but managed to score just nine before the half.

The Thunderbirds trailed 24-18 to start the third and the offense again struggled, managing just six points off buckets from three players, but the defense allowed 15 as Chester/JI led 39-25 entering the fourth quarter. The thunderbirds looked to finish strong and got a three point bucket from Not Afraid and six more points from Gabrial Walker, but in the end it was too little too late as Chester came away with a 49-36 win.

The Thunderbirds were in Fort Benton yesterday and will host Harlem on January 26. The Fort Benton game will be covered in next week’s paper.