Heat beef up, pop Pirates

New players showed up and the improvement continued for the Hot Springs Savage Heat boys last week as the Heat concluded the proceedings with a 51-21 win over Victor in Hot Springs Saturday.

Now 2-1 on the season, the Heat will wrap up play for 2019 hosting Seeley-Swan Friday in another non-conference game.

In his first season at the helm, coach Scott Fredrickson is happy with what his team – which picked up three new players last week – is giving him.

“The kids are playing hard, we made some progress last week,” he said. “Our defensive play showed improvement and we ended up getting a lot of layups against Victor.”

Fredrickson said senior Brandon Knudsen scored 34 of Hot Springs’ points to lead the Heat to the win. He added that Nathan Lawhead, Benedict Waterbury and Russell Morton saw their first action of the season in the game and performed well.

Jack McAllister added six points to the Heat’s winning total, Kyle Lawson five, Lawhead four and Lincoln Slonaker two.

Carson Varner bucketed 16 points for Victor but no other Pirate player managed more than four.

Fredrickson and his Heat have two games on tap this week, playing Two Eagle River in Pablo Thursday and hosting Seeley-Swan Friday.