Hot Springs hits the road during break

The Hot Springs teams were on the road last week, with the boys and girls each getting one win.

HOT SPRINGS 46,

ST. REGIS 24

The Lady Savage Heat and Tigers were well matched teams, with Hot Springs sinking baskets and keeping a lead through the first half in St. Regis on Thursday. The Tigers were close behind though, and a foul put St. Regis on the free throw line to start the third quarter, sinking both shots. The Savage Heat were able to sink a three pointer keeping them in the lead, and soon they had a massive 15-point lead. They kept St. Regis to minimal points in the fourth to seal the win.

Lilia Spanel led the Heat with 11 points, Kara Christensen behind with eight, Kora Hensrude, Brooke Jackson, and Erica Cannon each had six points for Hot Springs.

ST. REGIS 60,

HOT SPRINGS 45

The boys then hit the court, taking on the tough Tigers. St. Regis took an early 7-0 lead, and Wesley Adams would score the first Hot Springs points at the free throw line.

The Savage Heat started the second quarter down by seven, and the Tigers would continue to break past the Heat defense to put more points on the board. The Heat were able to find their groove and would try to lessen the point gap before the half. Coming back from the half, the teams would go basket for basket, but Hot Springs wasn’t able to close the gap.

“This is our first conference loss, St. Regis is a tough match up for us, they are quick and are well coached.” said coach Mike Benson.

Nick McAllister and Weston Slonaker led with 11 points each for the Heat, with Chase DePoe behind with nine.

HOT SPRINGS 42,

ARLEE 28

Then the Savage Heat teams took to the road facing the Arlee on Saturday. The girls were first on the court, and Arlee put up three back-to-bask baskets before the Heat could score. The Scarlets continued to put up basket after basket while the Heat couldn’t get past the full court press Arlee put on them.

But Hot Springs was able to break past to get more points on the board and would finish the first quarter down by just six points. The Savage Heat continued to hustle and were down by two points at the half.

Coming back from the half, Hot Springs gained momentum and took the lead in the third quarter. The Heat started the final quarter with a quick basket that was answered with an Arlee basket. The Heat would continue to put up more baskets before the Scarlets could gain another more points. After capitalizing on several steals and fast breaks the Heat soon held a 10 point lead over Arlee. Making quick movements Hot Springs was able to continue adding more points to the board to take the 42-28 win.

ARLEE 58, HOT SPRINGS 51

When the Savage Heat boys hit the court against the Arlee Warriors, the two teams would go basket for basket to start. The Warriors would pull ahead by two before Ben Aldridge was able to sneak in a quick layup to tie the game. Another Arlee basket put them ahead but with seconds left Hot Springs was able to tie up the game before the second quarter. The powerhouse teams continued to go basket for basket in the second quarter until the Warriors were able to once again pull ahead. Arlee would keep their hold of their lead, making the Heat work for every basket they earned. Headed into the third quarter the Heat started down by just six points, but the Warriors would continue to put more points between the teams. The Heat stayed hot on Arlee's heels and would sink a three pointer to bring the score closer together. Hot Springs would go into the final quarter just down by six points, and would be the first to put down a basket. It was swiftly answered with a Warrior three pointer for them to stay in the lead. While both teams put up 13 points in the final quarter Arlee had enough of a lead to take the home court win.

“We lost to them by 18 in the tip off tournament at the start of the year, this loss doesn’t feel like we lost by seven but more like one or two points. I’m ecstatic with the progress the team is making,” said Benson. “With the matchup against Seeley Swan we are both in the middle conference wise and really hope to gain the win.”

Weston Slonaker led with 16 points for the Heat, while Nick McAllister had 13 and Ben Aldridge had nine.

The Heat host the Seeley Swan Black Hawks on Saturday with the boys starting at 5:30.