HS girls prepare

“It has been a challenging year and people may be overlooking us,” Hot Springs girls basketball coach Richard Jackson said. “But we are still hungry and anything can happen at tournament time.”

Heavily impacted by the midseason loss of junior Katelyn Christensen, widely considered to be one of the premier female prep players in any class of western Montana basketball, the Heat completed regular season play with losses to Plains 38-22 in Hot Springs Friday and 52-13 to Noxon in Noxon Saturday.

The Savage Heat girls were set to play Noxon again in the first round of the 14C tourney in Noxon Thursday but results of that game were not available. Please see other story for more detail on the 14C tournament.

Jackson knows that it would be a tough road to travel to win one of the top two spots in the tournament but is saying his girls are still up to the fight. “This is what you play all season for – the tournaments,” he said. “It’s a little different this year with all the COVID stuff, but we are going to play our hardest and see what that gets us.”

Team leader Lizzy Fisher did it again for the Heat against Plains, leading Hot Springs with 12 points in that game. Lily DeTienne chipped in seven points, Josie Uski scored two and Laura Aldridge one.

Against Noxon, Brooke Jackson scored five points to pace the Heat, Moira Longeran and DeTienne added three each and Fisher two.

See other stories for Plains and Noxon scoring.