Basketball season heats up

As the regular season winds down for Sanders County basketball teams, schedules are ramping up with teams trying to make up games rescheduled from earlier in the season. The Plains Horsemen traveled to Hot Springs last Tuesday to face off against the Savage Heat.

The Horsemen kept up with the Savage Heat in the first quarter before Hot Springs took a bigger lead and held on to that throughout the game, winning 76-36. Jack McAllister led the charge for Hot Springs with 20 points, and Garth Parker and Kyle Lawson scored 14 each.

Hot Springs then played Alberton-Superior on Friday, winning 67-46 before losing to St. Regis Saturday 64-60. Coach Scott Fredrickson said his team shot the ball well against Alberton-Superior, racking up seven three-pointers and getting up by 22 at halftime. Lawson led Hot Springs with 20 points in Superior and Nate Lawhead added 19.

The game against St. Regis was another competitive one for Hot Springs, as the teams were tied at halftime and tied going into the fourth quarter. Hot Springs was able to get within two in the final minutes of the game before St. Regis sealed the victory. Fredrickson said his team got a lot of points in the paint. Lawson scored 19 points against the Tigers and Parker had 14. Fredrickson said his team was better on the board, with McAllister getting a lot of rebounds.

Fredrickson also noted that the junior varsity Savage Heat has been playing really well, winning all of their competitions last week, including a home game against Thompson Falls last Tuesday.

The Savage Heat girls split games last weekend, losing 61-36 to Superior on Friday before coming back for an intense overtime win against St. Regis, 63-62. St. Regis led by just three points in the first quarter and increased their lead to nine points at the half. Hot Springs rallied in the fourth quarter, outshooting St. Regis 20-10 and sending the teams into overtime as Josie Uski hit a three-pointer in the final minute. "We all upped our tempo," Hot Springs senior Katelyn Christensen said. "We were down by 10 the whole game and everybody came alive in that last quarter."

Katelyn Christensen, who recently signed on to play college basketball for the Carroll College Saints, scored 30 points for the Savage Heat. Erica Cannon added 12 points, Lauren Aldridge 11 and Kara Christensen 10 points for the win.

Christensen said she was glad they had a good crowd for their home overtime win. "It was really cool how we all came together as a team that game. It was awesome." She said her senior year has been enjoyable. "It's been fun playing with this group of girls and also getting to play with my sister my senior season." The senior added that the team is looking forward to tournament time, noting that as the season goes on the young and inexperienced team has been getting better. Christensen has signed with Carroll to join the track and basketball teams. She said she has been attending basketball camps in Helena since she was in sixth grade, so choosing Carroll for college has a familiar feeling. She said she is unsure of what she will choose as a major, but that Carroll had all of the things she was interested in.

Getting prepped for a busy week on the road, Hot Springs is set to travel to Noxon on Wednesday to face the Red Devils, then will head to Charlo on Friday and Two Eagle River on Saturday. Fredrickson said his team will be focusing on rebounding and press rotations, and well as continuing to fine-tune their shooting.

PLAINS

The Horsemen also faced off against Eureka on Saturday, losing 105-20. Plains Coach Tyrel Allen said the Horsemen started off 5-5 with Eureka before the Lions took off. The young Plains team struggled scoring against the older, more physical Eureka team. Allen said Eureka had pressure on his team throughout the game and Eureka shot 70% from the field goal range.

This week, Plains hosted Mission on Monday, will welcome Alberton-Superior on Friday and then head to Bigfork on Saturday. Allen said defensively his team is working on where and how to shift, as well as setting the speed they need to get to. Against Eureka, freshmen Darren Standeford and Zayden Allen both took charges.

The Trotters also came up short against Eureka, losing 57-21.

Plains will finish out the regular season next week with road trips to Hot Springs, Arlee and Mission before heading to the District 7-B tournament in Ronan later this month.

NOXON

The Red Devils are back in action after going to remote learning for the second half of January. Noxon welcomed Charlo on Saturday for their first competition back on the court. Both Red Devil teams lost the matchup against Charlo, but were looking forward to getting back into the rhythm of competition with a packed schedule for the rest of the regular season. The Red Devils welcomed Hot Springs on Wednesday and then will play host to Clark Fork, Idaho, on Friday and St. Regis on Saturday. Next week, Noxon will travel to Superior on Tuesday, host Two Eagle River on Thursday and will finish out the regular season with a game in Troy on Saturday.