What a win!

by John Hamilton

HOT SPRINGS – It's games like these that give gyms their very own place in time and history.

In perhaps one of the very best basketball games ever played in the "new" Hot Springs High School gym, the hometown Lady Savage Heat scored a comeback win for the ages, coming back from 12 points down with less than six minutes to play to register an improbable 48-47 win over visiting Seeley-Swan Friday.

The Heat were fighting back from behind all night before coming up with a big rally in the fourth quarter. Trailing 46-34 with only 5:49 left in the game, the Heat ended it with a 14-1 run, capped by a shot in the lane by Lily Winn with only seven seconds left to pull out the win.

Although he appeared a little anxious during the game while his team battled from behind, coach Richard Jackson said he knew his girls would pull the game out in the end.

"I had a hunch, I could feel it," he said of the Heat's late comeback. "We have some seniors, some girls that have been through some wars together and I knew what they were capable of."

What they were capable of became apparent in the closing minutes of the game that was largely dominated by Seeley-Swan up to that point.

Jackson's daughter/point guard Sydney Jackson started the rally by burying two free throws to make the score 46-36 Seeley, and then drilled a 3-pointer the next trip down the floor to make it 46-39.

After McKennzie Cannon connected on two more charity tosses to make it 46-41, Hot Springs foreign transfer student Irene Bravo came up with a steal, passed the ball off to Sydney Jackson and Jackson assisted Katelyn Christensen for a two-pointer to draw Hot Springs within three at 46-43.

After the Heat stole the ball back again and took a timeout with 3:00 left, Christensen then splashed a 3-pointer from the right corner to tie the game at 46-46, sending the Hot Springs crowd into a boiling mass of cheering fans.

Seeley-Swan had their chances to reassert control, but Bethany Hoag missed three of four free throw chances to give the Lady Hawks an uneasy 47-46 lead with 19.6 seconds left.

From there, the Heat worked the ball across half-court and Winn found herself open in the key, and gently laid the ball in, sending the Hot Springs faithful off once more with the 48-47 win.

The Heat outscored the Black Hawks 16-4 in the fourth quarter to pull out the win.

"That was a big win for us," Jackson said, "it was a good test of what we are capable of. I know it will make our holiday a little happier though."

Christensen finished with 13 points and seven rebounds to lead Hot Springs, Cannon and Sydney Jackson had six rebounds apiece, Sydney passed out five assists and Sage Jackson grabbed a team-high three steals.

Sydney Jackson scored 10 points and Cannon nine.

Terra Bertsch scored a game-high 14 points and Aspen Conley nine for Seeley-Swan.

Hot Springs also reportedly won a game from Two Eagle River in Pablo Thursday, but, due to the current state of sports reporting in Montana, no score or scoring from that game could be found.

Hot Springs teams will open play in 2020 with a boy/girl doubleheader at Mission Jan. 2.