Savage Heat girls split with St. Regis, Charlo

The Hot Springs Savage Heat girls split their last two District 14C conference games, edging St. Regis 46-43 in Hot springs Thursday and falling, but only 40-30, to league-leading Charlo in Charlo Saturday.

Coach Richard Jackson and his Savage Heat will now open the 14C tourney as the No. 4 seed and will play No. 5 St. Regis again at 11 a.m. Thursday in the first round. Please see the tournament preview story for more.

The Heat defeated St. Regis for the second time this season as McKennzie Cannon bucketed 14 points and Katelyn Christensen and Sage Jackson 10 each to lead the way. Sydney Jackson added seven points, Brianna Gray three and Lizzy Fisher two. Kylee Thompson scored a game-high 16 points for St. Regis and Madison Kelly added nine.

In Charlo, the Heat started fast, building a 9-2 lead early, but coach Bret Thompson’s Lady Vikings eventually prevailed, using some long-range shooting late to pull it out.

“We had them a little bit nervous, they burned through two of their timeouts early trying to stem the tide,” Jackson said. “We played well, but they put down a few threes late and got past us.”

Christensen, one of the best freshmen in 14C this season, led the Heat in Charlo with nine points, Cannon added seven, Gray and Sydney Jackson five apiece and Fisher four.

Carlee Fryberger scored 11 points to lead Charlo, Kaitlin Cox threw in eight and Liev Smith five.