The thrilling three-pointer
After a rough game against Superior, the Savage Heat sizzled in Seeley
HOT SPRINGS – The Savage Heat had a busy weekend with back to back games. They met Superior on their home court Friday night and played Seeley-Swan away on Saturday.
In their first game against Superior, the Hot Springs boys trailed behind the Bobcats by six points after the first quarter. Then the Bobcats broke ahead in the second quarter and left the Savage Heat with a 17 point deficit.
The Hot Springs boys tried their best to catch up and managed to out-score Superior by one point in the third quarter but it was not enough to close the gap. The final score was 56-82.
Head Coach Ricky DePoe admitted it was the Bobcats’ surge and resulting deficit in the second quarter that led to the Savage Heat’s game loss.
“They pulled away from us and got a big lead going into the half and we couldn’t fight our way back even though the boys played much better the second half,” Coach DePoe said.
The Savage Heat boys were also plagued with a couple of injuries as the game went on.
Jimmy Holland tweaked his knee, an old injury that has been flaring up lately--but he still played in Saturday’s game against Seeley-Swan. Lane Foster, who missed the first half of the season because of a wrist injury, sprained his ankle. Coach DePoe said he plans on sitting Foster out for at least a week.
Coach DePoe is proud of how the boys handled themselves in the face of injuries and tough competition. He said they played well, especially considering the daunting size of the Superior players.
Tanner Hoff and Jarrod White tied for lead scorer both with 17 points. Sam Hoff followed with nine points against the Bobcats--but Sam earned the most important points in the Saturday night game against Seeley-Swan.
The Savage Heat game against Seeley-Swan kept the crowd on the edge of their seats.
At the end of the first quarter, the score was 9-10. Hot Springs outscored the Blackhawks by five points which made the score 24-20 going into the second half. The Savage Heat held on to the lead through the third quarter but a surge of energy in the fourth quarter helped the Blackhawks catch up. The teams were tied at 52 points each which resulted in overtime.
Hot Springs fell behind in overtime and the score was 58-60 with seconds left on the clock. Sam took a chance and shot a three-pointer well behind the line. He made it and the Savage Heat won the game 61-60.
Sam scored 11 points total including the game winning three-pointer. White earned an impressive 28 points despite sitting out of part of the fourth quarter and overtime.
Next week the Savage Heat will travel to Noxon on Thursday for what Coach DePoe called an important conference game. Saturday night they will travel to Plains to take on their county rivals.