Savage Heat have busy week of basketball

Matt Unrau

The Hot Springs boys basketball team has been busy. In a literal blitzkrieg the team played four games in five days to finish out the month of December.

Despite the nightmarish schedule the team has fared well stomping Granite and St. Regis, while losing a tough game to highly rated Plains in Class B.

“I think we’re playing pretty good. The younger players are finally getting used to playing varsity,” says Head Coach Ricky DePoe who has five Freshmen on the team. “I feel pretty confident in the bench that we got.”

The weekend started on Friday where they traveled to Plains and dropped the game 38-54. It was a tough matchup for the Savage Heat as they were outsized from nearly every position. Senior Reiley Winebrenner led the team with 17 points, while Zach Malinak scored 8 points. The game could have been closer, but Hot Springs struggled from the free throw line only sinking six of 16 freebies.

“They have so many weapons even on the bench. They outsize us all the way around. I see them going to state in Class B,” says Coach DePoe.

It was a different story on Saturday though as Hot Springs used a 40-5 first half score to cruise to a 55-38 win against Granite. In the second half DePoe emptied his bench, and 10 different players scored for the Savage Heat.

Winebrenner had 20 points for the team, with 18 in the first quarter.

On Monday night the team then hosted St. Regis for their first conference game winning handily by a score of 51-32. It was all Malinak in the first quarter who scored 16 points in the quarter for a total of 21 for the game.

Michael Brooks chipped in 10 points for Hot Springs.