Heat stifles Horsemen

The Heat was stifling in Plains Thursday.

Turning up the defensive heat on the Horsemen, the Hot Springs Savage Heat cooked up a 48-26 win over their county rivals in Plains.

Now 4-1 in 14C boys basketball conference action, the Heat will try to fry again this week visiting the Clark Fork Mountain Cats in Superior Thursday and then hosting the St. Regis Tigers in the Spa City Friday.

After defeating the Horsemen, coach Scott Fredrickson and his Heat returned to Hot Springs and defeated Noxon 50-35 Friday, while coach Tyrel Allen and his Horsemen went to St. Regis and fell to the Tigers 56-29.

The Horsemen have only one game this coming week at Charlo Friday.

Fredrickson said the Heat's win over Plains was all about execution.

"We had a good game plan and the kids executed the plan," he said. "We played good team defense and took care of the ball on offense."

The Heat defense was stifling to the Horsemen all night, particularly in the first half when Hot Springs limited Plains to only seven points, taking a 16-7 lead into halftime. A 15-5 win of the third quarter gave the Heat a 31-12 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

"It was a frustrating game for us, we seemed to have trouble getting into any kind of offensive flow," Allen offered, "and Hot Springs is probably responsible for that. They are playing some very good defense right now."

Deadeye Jack McAllister, who seemed to bury every open 3-pointer he was offered (he ended up with four treys), led Hot Springs (and matched Plains' team total) with 26 points including four of five free throws. Kyle Lawson and Michael Marrinan added seven points each, and Mario Garcia and Quincy Styles four apiece.

As a team, the Heat connected on 11 of 13 free throws, a stat any coach would love.

Nathan Feliksa led Plains with nine points, Garth Parker and Duncan Chisholm added four each, Parker Flock three and Tucker Foster and Gabe Gamboa two apiece.

Back on court against Noxon, Lawson led the way to victory for Hot Springs with 15 points, Garcia added 13, McAllister seven, Lincoln Slonaker five, Nathan Lawhead and Marrinan four apiece, and Styles two.

See other story for Noxon scoring.

The Horsemen completed their weekend with the loss in St. Regis. Caleb Ball led the Tigers to the win over Plains with 28 points and Tanner Day added 11.

Plains scoring from the game was not available, but Allen said everyone played a lot of minutes. An injury to sophomore sharpshooter Jayden Weeks, he apparently pulled a hamstring against Hot Springs, limited Plains' substitution pattern.

"We had a lot of kids playing that normally don't," Allen said. "We stayed with them for awhile but they eventually pulled away."

Attendance at the Horsemen's practices has been spotty so far this COVID-altered this season. "It has been a struggle," Allen said. "I estimate we have had all 12 players at practice at the same time only about 37% of the time so far."