Lady Savage Heat season wraps up
HOT SPRINGS – In the first round of District Tournament play, the fifth-seeded Lady Savage Heat faced off against the fourth-seeded Superior Lady Bobcats. The Hot Springs girls fought hard to continue their season but the Lady Bobcats proved to be worthy adversaries.
The Lady Savage Heat earned seven points in the first quarter while Superior almost doubled that with 13 points. The Hot Springs girls then rallied and out-scored the Lady Bobcats 9-4 in the second quarter which made the halftime score a close 16-17.
The Lady Bobcats came out with ready to fight in the second half and hit double digits once again in the third quarter. The Lady Savage Heat struggled to keep up. Superior really broke it open in the fourth quarter with 19 points and Hot Springs struggled with six points. The final score was 27-47 at the end of the first round.
Josey Carr was the lead scorer of the final game and earned 11 points and 11 rebounds. Laurel Schmiedbauer contributed six points and Sophia Jeffries put up three points.
Head Coach Robert Kearney thought the game was very up and down.
“We were inconsistent,” he said. “We fell behind Superior but pulled ourselves back up at halftime. Then Alex and Meara got into foul trouble which wasn’t good for us.”
The Lady Savage Heat moved into the consolation bracket in the second round of the tournament and was put up against the Charlo Vikings on Saturday.
The Hot Springs girls got off to a slow start in the first quarter and trailed behind Charlo by 13 points going into the second. The Vikings created a significant lead with 18 points in the second quarter and the Lady Savage Heat struggled to keep up with two points. The score going into halftime was 9-38.
The Hot Springs girls kicked it up at the start of the second half and tied Charlo with nine points at the end of the third quarter. The score going into the fourth quarter was 18-47. It turned out to be a deficit too great to overcome and the Lady Savage Heat lost with a final score of 22-53.
Laurel Schmiedbauer led her team with seven points and her sister Meara followed closely behind with six. Carr also put up six points and Alex Green added three.
The second loss of the District Tournament brought the Lady Savage Heat season to a close. Coach Kearney believes the girls did the best they could under the unfavorable conditions.
“In the second game Meara and Laurel both got ankle injuries. That presented a problem for us,” he said. “Also, three players never played in a tournament before so that was a bit of a challenge. We did the best we could.”
Despite the losses, Coach Kearney looks back on the season fondly and is ready to look towards the future.
“Overall we were happy to participate and do our best,” he said. “Now the seniors can move on to greener pastures and the younger players have gained experience that will help down the road.”
Coach Kearney reiterated how much he has enjoyed working with his seniors and appreciated all the effort they put forth.
“We walk away with our heads held high to the next challenge, whatever it may be,” he said.