Heat seek State C bid

Taking care of their District 14C business in Ronan, the Hot Springs Lady Savage Heat now turn their undivided attention to the Western C divisional tournament in Frenchtown this week.

Winners of second place in the district tournament after falling 48-32 to Charlo in the championship game Saturday night, coach Richard Jackson and his Savage Heat, now an impressive 17-3 overall for the season, will face West Yellowstone in the first round of the Western C tourney Thursday.

Completing one of the best regular seasons (16-2) in school history two weeks ago, the Savage Heat will look to add to their list of 2019-2020 accomplishments in Frenchtown. And Jackson thinks his girls are capable of anything – up to and including possibly winning the divisional title.

"We are in it to win it, you gotta play to win," Jackson said. "We are going to play our hardest and see what happens. We feel like we have a good draw, will take it one game at a time, and hope to still be playing Saturday night."

Jackson's optimism is based on the reality of what has transpired this season. The only team that defeated the Heat this year was Charlo, and the Lady Vikings are now 20-0 and were ranked No. 4 in the final regular season power poll, where the Heat checked in at No. 6.

Also of note, the Heat own a win over District 12C champion Seeley-Swan, and the Blackhawks are now 18-2, with their only other loss coming at the hands of Charlo. Hot Springs is now 17-3 overall.

Although all of this makes Hot Springs look good on paper, it is on the court that really counts, and Jackson thinks the Heat are ready.

"We have a pretty good path if we play like I know we can," he said. "The key is to take it one game at a time, take care of the business in front of you before worrying about the next game."

Hot Springs' biggest win of the 14C tourney came against Plains in the semifinals. The Trotters had been surging lately, playing some of their best ball of the season over the past few weeks. Hot Springs took the Trotters out of their game with a pesky three-quarters court press that kept Plains from getting into their offense very easily.

"We didn't play that well offensively but our defense was solid," Jackson said. "We went in knowing it's hard to beat a team three times in a season and felt good about being able to do that."

Against Charlo in the chipper, the Heat led 8-7 after the first quarter but Charlo took control with a 19-7 win of the second quarter, taking a 26-15 lead into halftime.

Jackson said the Heat could have stayed closer in the game with a better effort from the free throw line, where Hot Springs connected only 11 of 22 attempts.

Katelyn Christensen scored 10 points to lead the Heat against Charlo, McKennzie Cannon added seven, Sydney Jackson and Lizzy Fisher four each, Danielle Graham, Irene Bravo and Brianna Gray two apiece and Lily Winn one.

Connor Fryberger led Charlo to the championship win with 15 points, six rebounds and three steals, Liev Smith added 12 points, nine rebounds and two steals, and Carlee Fryberger nine points, four assists and three rebounds.