Savage Heat destroys Devils
Photo by Aaric Bryan<br>Savage Heat's Richelle Flagen goes up for a layup as Red Devil Kimmy Moore stumbles trying to catch up with her in Noxon Saturday.
With a 64-33 victory over Noxon, Hot Springs finishes a perfect 10-0 in District 14-C play
The Savage Heat finished their regular season conference play much like they started it and like every game in between - by winning.
Hot Springs dominated the Lady Red Devils from the onset and coasted to a 64-33 win at Noxon Saturday to finish 10-0 in District 14-C and earn a first-day bye as the top seed at the district tournament. The victory was also the Savage Heat's 17th in a row, with their only blemish coming in their first game of the season against Philipsburg.
Hot Springs' coach Mike Benson said his team could care less about their perfect league record and their overall 17-1 record. "It doesn't faze them. They just want to go out and play," Benson said. "I don't think it would matter if you said let's go out on the blacktop and play. They would be game."
Leading 25-14 at halftime, Hot Springs put the game out of reach in the third quarter, when sophomore MacKenzie Wood started to heat up. Wood scored 15 of her game-high 17 points in the quarter, including two 3-pointers, and the Savage Heat went into the final quarter with a commanding 46-26 lead. Wood wasn't the only hot shooter for the Savage Heat in the second half. Hot Springs shot over 50 percent from the field in the second half, going 15 for 27 from the field.
Benson was at a loss of words trying to describe Wood's third-quarter offensive onslaught. "I don't know, she just goes off once in awhile," he said. Benson said his team understands to get Wood the ball once she gets in one of her grooves. "They find the hot hand," he said.
It was Hot Springs' junior Matea DePoe and sophomore Randi Arnold that had the hot hands for the Savage Heat in the first half. DePoe scored seven of Hot Springs' 13 points in the first quarter and the Savage Heat went into the second quarter leading 13-4. DePoe would add five more points in the second quarter and finished the game with 14 points. All of Arnold's eight points came in the first half.
It wasn't only the hot shooting of Hot Springs' that did the Red Devils in, it was also the Savage Heat's rebounding and relentless defense. Hot Springs' out rebounded Noxon 43-to-24 in the game. "I knew they killed us on that," Noxon coach Ted Miller said, while reading the statistics after the game. "They really got after us," he added. DePoe led the Savage Heat in rebounding with eight.
Miller said the Savage Heat's defense was really good at getting in passing lanes, setting up the trap, and simply bothering the Red Devils. "They really rattled us," he said. Hot Springs not only limited Noxon to four points in the first quarter, they didn't allow a basket from the field until about a minute into the second quarter. The Savage Heat also forced the Red Devils to commit 27 turnovers. "If we have more than 15, we're going to struggle on offense," Miller said.
Miller said Hot Springs pretty much dominated in every aspect of the game. "We didn't come ready to play and they did," he said. Noxon dropped to 8-9 on the year and 5-5 in conference play. They will be the third seed in the District 14-C Tournament in Ronan, which starts Thursday and ends Saturday.
Sarah Larkin and Sarah Marich finished tied for the team-high in points for Noxon with nine. Kimmy Moore followed with eight and Lindsey Franz put in six.
Noxon were going for their third conference win in the week. In a make-up game Thursday, Hot Springs slipped by the Lady Tigers 28-25 at St. Regis and in Superior Friday Noxon dominated the Superior Bobcats and sailed to a 46-29 win.
Noxon struggled at the start against St. Regis and trailed 11-2 at the end of the first quarter. The Red Devils had slimmed the lead in the by halftime and in the third quarter their defense took over. Noxon held the Tigers scoreless in the quarter as they rattled off seven points to tie the score at 17. In the final quarter, Noxon outscored St. Regis 11-to-eight, to escape with a 28-25 victory.
Seniors Moore and Larkin led the way for the Red Devils, each picking up 10 points in the victory. Franz finished with six. Moore also led Noxon in scoring against the Bobcats, finishing with 11 points. Franz had nine points in the Red Devils' 17-point victory and Angela Herbig finished with six.
Hot Springs will start the District 14-C Tournament playing the winner of the St. Regis Two Eagle game Friday at 3:45 p.m. As the third seed, Noxon will take on the winless Bobcats at 6 p.m. Thursday.