Red Devils best Heat

In their first matchup this season, the Red Devils left Hot Springs smoldering as they ran away with a 53-30 win over the hometown Savage Heat on Friday night.

Although Banks Stocking, Noxon’s primary offensive weapon, struggled, scoring only eight points, his teammates showed the resiliency they had learned while playing without him as he missed time with a broken leg, by stepping up in the scoring column.

The Red Devil supporting cast, led by Tyrell Wilkinson’s 13 points, included contributions from Austin Tucker, 10 points, Travis Tammaro, nine and Neal Jopling. Jopling, a sophomore, scored seven points in his first varsity start while filling in for the injured Jordan Eichert.

“It’s a nice luxury to have as a coach, no matter what sport you’re playing when you have kids who can step in on any given night and as a team, you don’t fall off,” Red Devil coach Mike Tessier said. “It’s not very often that you’re in that situation, so it’s really nice for us.”

The Red Devils got ahead early, leading 14-8 after the first quarter, and they went on to increase their lead with each subsequent period as they evened their District 14-C record at 2-2 with the victory (3-6 overall). Hot Springs slipped to 1-3, 3-6.

Hot Springs has also had it’s share of injury trouble, with starting point guard Trevor Bras and forward Cody Hoff missing time to injuries, but they were back at full strength versus the Red Devils.

For the Savage Heat, Cody Hoff scored nine, Dave Cross eight, Trevor Bras six, Riley Whitworth three, and Mike Gray and Zack Malinak two points each.

Noxon’s good fortune would end soon, however, as they fell at home the following day versus district foe Arlee, 50-51.

Despite trailing 35-43 after three quarters, a 15-8 surge in the fourth put the Red Devils back in position to win, but 11 missed free throws and a number of blown lay-ups cost them the victory.

“We had a couple of opportunities to win that game,” Tessier said. “If we convert those, we win that game by six, eight, maybe 10 points.

“We know we’re good enough to beat them and on another night when those shots drop, we win the game,” he said.

Jesse Pfau scored 19 points while Kasey Bridewater chipped in 16 more as Arlee (4-1, 8-2) edged the Red Devils (2-3, 3-7).

Stocking had 19 points and 14 rebounds to lead Noxon. Tammaro added 12 points, Wilkinson 8, Jopling 6, Johnny Carter and Brandon Piazzola two apiece and Tucker one.

Noxon will have two more conference games this week, traveling to face Two Eagle River on Friday, before hosting Charlo on Saturday.

Like Noxon, Hot Springs was right back at it on Saturday as they too came up short in a comeback attempt, falling to Two Eagle River, 54-55.

After entering the locker room down 24-36 at halftime, the Savage Heat emerged a different team. They would outscore Two Eagle 16-10 in the third and 14-9 in the fourth as they came within one point of forcing an extra session.

Malinak led his team with 16 points as Cross was also in double figures, scoring 14. Wyat Nagy tallied eight points and Hoff and Bras both scored six.

Artie Mendoza led all-scores wit 20 points while teammate Clayton Malatare added 13.

The Savage Heat will get a break from their conference, hosting Plains on Friday and Seeley Swan on Saturday.