Savage Heat boys fight way to fourth place in District 14C

PABLO – The Hot Springs Savage Heat boys fought the good fight in the District 14C tournament in Pablo last week, winning two of four games and finishing in fourth place.

After opening the tourney with a 57-48 win over Sanders County rival Noxon in the first round Thursday, coach Cameron Barber and his Heat fell to the top-seeded Arlee Warriors 87-55 in the semifinals Friday before fighting back to eliminate St. Regis in a loser-out game Saturday morning. The Heat's tournament run ended with a 52-47 loss to Plains in the consolation game later Saturday, a game that the Heat led from the opening tip before falling victim to a late-game charge from the Horsemen.

Barber refused to take anything away from his short-handed but big-hearted boys. "This was a very successful season for us," he said. "No one gave us a chance but we really came together as a team and put together a very successful season. We started 0-6 and it took us awhile to figure each other out, but once we did we really caught fire."

The loss to Plains probably hurt the most because, if the Heat would have won that game, they would have ultimately earned a challenge game shot at second place Charlo, a team they had lost to by only one point in Charlo the Saturday before the tourney.

Hot Springs was in control of that game from the start, racing out to a lead of 18-14 by the end of the first quarter and building that lead up to as much as 12 points a few times in the third quarter, which ended with the Heat still leading 39-27.

"That was a tough loss," Barber said. "We got in some foul trouble and Brandon (Knudsen), Jack (McAllister) and Tyler C (Carr) all played most of the fourth quarter with four fouls. I felt like our defense really took a hit as we were not as aggressive as we usually are."

Plains junior Treydon Brouillette did most of the damage for the Horsemen in that fatal fourth quarter, scoring 17 of his 28 points and connecting on the go-ahead, stay-ahead 3-pointer from the top of the key with only 50 seconds remaining. The Heat missed three of four free throws, including the front end of two one-and-one chances in the last 30 seconds of regulation.

The Knudsen brothers led Hot Springs with 11 points each, with Brandon adding five rebounds and four assists and Tyler also collecting nine rebounds, Carr scored eight points and secured six rebounds, McAllister added nine points (on three 3-pointers) and Luke Waterbury and Kyle Lawson scored four points apiece.

The Heat stared Thursday's game with Noxon like a house afire, running out to a 10-0 lead in the first five minutes and never trailing after that.

"Defense was the key for us in this game," Barber offered. "We forced 28 turnovers and 20 of those were steals. It's always tough to beat a team three times and we played really well to get Noxon a third time."

Brandon Knudsen bucketed 20 points to lead the Heat win, Tyler Knudsen added 14, McAllister eight, Carr six, Lawson five and Waterbury four. Brandon Knudsen had eight steals, Tyler K four, and McAllister and Carr three each.

See other story for Noxon scoring.

The semifinal game with Arlee went the way of the two-time defending State C champ Warriors. "They are such a good defensive team," Barber said, "and even better on offense. It's tough to play a team like that when they are on their game." The Warriors went on to swamp Charlo 80-49 in the 14C title game Saturday night.

McAllister, perhaps the freshman of the year in District 14C, led the Heat with 17 points, including five of nine 3-pointers, Tyler Knudsen scored 12 points (with eight rebounds and five assists) and Carr chipped in with nine points and 10 rebounds. Brandon Knudsen and Waterbury added four points each, Lawson three, and Josh Maier, Benedict Waterbury and Russell Morton two apiece.

Lane Johnson scored 20, Greg Whitesell 15 and Isaac Fisher 14 to lead Arlee.

The Heat stayed alive with an easy win over St. Regis Saturday morning, racing out to a 40-19 lead by halftime and cruising to the victory from there.

Brandon Knudsen poured in 28 points to lead the Heat, Tyler K added 17 points and 12 rebounds, McAllister 12 points, six boards and four assists, Carr seven points and five rebounds, Luke Waterbury six points and five dimes, Benedict Waterbury five points and Lawson two.

Resting his starters some for the Plains game later that day, Barber said St. Regis took advantage by scoring 35 points in the fourth quarter but the Heat managed to hold on and win.