Devil boys fall to Heat, H-Men

PABLO – The Noxon Red Devil boys completed season play at the District 14C tournament in Pablo last week, falling 57-48 to county rival Hot Springs Thursday and being eliminated 40-32 by another county foe Plains, Saturday.

A slow start against Hot Springs may have been the ultimate difference in that game as the Heat led 10-0 by late in the first quarter and still led 10-2 at the end of the first quarter.

“We came back a little there to tighten things up and then Hot Springs went on another little run,” Devil coach Bart Haflich said, “but it seemed like we were in catch-up mode all game after that.”

Logan Wood led the Devils against Hot Springs with 16 points, Alex Currie added 11, Rylan Weltz nine, Braedon Marshall seven, Levi Brubaker three and Owen Fisher two. See other story for Hot Springs scoring.

Against Plains, the Red Devils played a strong first half but a “giant lull in scoring in the third quarter,” Haflich said, led to the Devils’ demise in that game. Plains won that quarter 11-2 to take control of the game.

Weltz scored 11 points to lead Noxon, Edison VanVleet added five, Wood, Fisher and Currie four apiece and Jeriko Smith and Marshall two each. See Plains story for Horsemen scoring in the game.

The Devils will lose five seniors – VanVleet, Currie, Wood, Fisher and Brubaker – to graduation this spring. “You never like seeing five seniors graduate,” Haflich said. “That will leave some big holes to fill but should give some of our younger kids a chance to step up.”