Heat girls scare Scarlets

The Arlee Scarlets are a very good basketball team, but they are not invincible.

Leading District 14C with an unbeaten record in league play, the Scarlets got all they wanted from the upstart Hot Springs Savage Heat in Hot Springs Jan. 15 before finally winning 60-46 in one of the closer conference games they have played this season.

“I am real impressed with how we played against Arlee,” coach Richard Jackson said. “We proved that we can play with them, and if we had shot a little better from the line it could have been even closer.”

The Heat converted only five of 21 free throws while Arlee connected on 12 of 22 attempts.

Sydney Jackson and McKennzie Cannon scored 13 points each for the upstart Heat, Lizzy Fisher added six, Sage Jackson five, Katelyn Christensen four, Brianna Gray three and Danielle Graham two.

Cannon, Gray and Christensen added eight rebounds and two assists each, Cannon also blocked three shots and Sydney Jackson grabbed five steals.

The leading scorer in 14C this season, Alyssia Vanderburg threw down 27 points to lead Arlee, Nellie Desjarlais scored 12 and Noelle West 11.

The Heat wrapped up their week of play with easy non-conference wins over 13C foes Victor and Valley Christian, defeating Victor on the road Thursday and dumping Valley in Hot Springs Saturday.

The score from the win over Victor was 63-35 but Jackson was surprised by how hard the Pirates played. “They really came out scrappy and made some things happen,” he said, “we led only 29-21 at the half before we finally pulled away.”

Christensen scored a career-high 18 points to lead the Heat, Cannon added 15, Gray nine, Sydney Jackson eight, Fisher six, Sage Jackson five and Elena McAllister two. A. Chavez led Victor with 18 points.

The Heat prevailed in spite of shooting only one for 10 from the free throw line, but they got their act together at the charity stripe against Valley two nights later, connecting on a healthy 22 of 29 attempts in the 62-44 win over the visiting Eagles.

Christensen upped her career high number to 19 points in leading Hot Springs, Cannon added 13 points, six rebounds and five blocked shots, Sydney Jackson 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals, Sage Jackson eight points, and Fisher and Gray five apiece.

Kaytlin Kelly canned 15 points to lead Valley and Morgan Brewer scored 11. Valley also shot very well from the line, converting 16 of 20 of their attempts.

The Heat play two crucial 14C contests against Sanders County teams this week, hosting Plains Friday and visiting Noxon Saturday.

“These are big games,” coach Jackson said. “We need to put ourselves in the best possible position for the tournament and besides that, this is the time of season where you want to be playing your best basketball.