Lady Savage Heat beat out Lady Red Devils

HOT SPRINGS – The Lady Savage Heat were victorious against rival Noxon Lady Red Devils.

The Noxon girls kept up with Hot Springs in the first quarter. Lady Red Devil Katie Chandler made her foul shot keeping 2-3 with Noxon leading. A scuffle for the ball ensued shortly after and Chandler won possession of the ball and made a basket making the score 4-5. The first quarter concluded with a nice alley-oop made from Lady Savage Heat Alex Green to teammate Josey Carr leaving the score 6-5 Hot Springs at the end of the first.

Lady Red Devil Chandler scored in the second quarter and Zoey Osborne added to that, making both of her foul shots. Despite this, the Lady Savage Heat sped ahead making the score 29-10 at halftime.

In the third quarter, Osborne had a nice steal and basket with only seconds left but the score was 34-12 going into the fourth.

A foul was called on Hot Springs early in the fourth quarter when Lady Red Devil Jenna Langdon got a bloody nose. She rallied any way but the Lady Savage Heat were too difficult to catch. Osborne and Kamber Torti continued to score as the clock ran out but the final score was 39-18 Hot Springs.

After a fury of a first half, the flames created a gap too large for Noxon to overcome.

Noxon kept up with Hot Springs in the first quarter ending 6-5, but the Lady Savage Heat broke it open in the second making the halftime score 29-10.

“We struggled a bit with the press. We hung with them the first quarter but it got away from us,” Noxon’s Head Coach Ashleigh Singbeil said.

Lady Savage Heat Head Coach Robert Kearney was happy with his team’s work.

“I was pleased with the girls tonight,” he said. “We attempted to come out and be strong by putting a lot of pressure on full court.”

Although Coach Kearney always says it is all a team effort, he mentioned two players that had an especially good night.

“Josey Carr in addition to having 14 points, she had 11 rebounds and I am sure she had four or five steals,” he said.

Coach Kearney also mentioned one of the Schmiedbauer sisters, Meara.

“It was good to see Meara Schmiedbauer step up. She is capable of scoring a lot but has had trouble getting open. That is something we have been working on in practice,” he said.

According to Singbeil, two Noxon girls played notably well in Friday’s game.

Number 14 and co-captain Zoey Osborne led her team with eight points and senior Katie Chandler followed with six. Each girl also had two rebounds.

According to Coach Kearney, the Lady Red Devils man-to-man defense they implemented was not what Hot Springs expected.

It was a good strategy on Noxon’s part but the Lady Savage Heat still came out on top.

Coach Kearney said Noxon is a young team with a lot of heart and they will continue to improve for years to come.

For now both teams will need to look towards the near future. With a shortage of players, the Hot Springs under-classmen will really have to work to compensate, while the Lady Red Devils need to work on becoming a cohesive unit.

“Unfortunately, we are down two starters due to health reasons. You just have to work with what you have,” Coach Kearney said. “The girls are just trying to step up. It is a team effort.”

The Varsity teams competed with the Trotters and Hot Springs fell short. The Lady Savage Heat stayed in single digits against the class B school. The final score was 9-41.

Meara Schmiedbauer led her team with three points and her sister was close behind.

Coach Kearney knew this would be a difficult match-up for the Hot Springs girls.

Noxon also had a tough opponent as they played against Arlee earlier in the week. They lost 13-59 but Coach Singbeil was pleased with how the Lady Red Devils played.

“We did a lot of good things in that game. We definitely started out of the box better and we created few turnovers on our part,” she said.

Kristin Webley and Osborne both had five points while Jenna Langdon brought in two and Kamber Torti added one point to the scoreboard.

On Friday the Lady Red Devils will travel to Superior and then they will meet Eureka at home on Saturday.

Coach Singbeil said she is not sure what to expect from either team, but this year is about learning.

“We are still working on the basics,” she said. “That is what this year is going to be about.”

Next week the Lady Savage Heat have a game at St. Regis and a home game against Charlo. Coach Kearney believes these might be two challenging games.

“Charlo has some good guards so they are going to put a lot of pressure on us and we will have to handle that,” he said.

According to Coach Kearney, St. Regis is a younger team but they have some superior athletes. Two of their players are state champions in track and field.

“With those athletes there are going to be challenges, especially with our health issues right now,” he said. “So we are just going to have to go out there, work really hard and strategize.”