County teams compete in Pablo

PABLO – The District 14-C tournament got underway last week in Pablo with two Sanders County teams, Hot Springs and Noxon opening the competition against one another.

In the tournament opener the no. 2 seeded Savage Heat battled past the no. 7 seeded Red Devils to advance to the 14-C semifinals.

Hot Springs gained the early lead over Noxon, going up 20-12 after one quarter of play.

The Savage Heat built off of their lead in the second quarter and took a 27-15 lead into halftime.

Despite the early deficit Noxon refused to back down and the Red Devils stayed with the Savage Heat throughout the game’s two final quarters.

Momentum swung between the two teams during the third quarter of play with Hot Springs outscoring the Red Devils 14-12, making the score 41-27 at the start of the fourth.

The Red Devils outscored the Savage Heat in the game’s final quarter, 11-9, but it was not enough to bring down Hot Springs, who won by a final of 50-38.

Hot Springs sophomore Trevor Paro led the Savage Heat offense with 17 points against Noxon.

Savage Heat senior Nate Gray added eight points of offense, while junior Sam Hoff also ended the game with eight points for Hot Springs.

Junior Grant Fitchett, who ended the game with 16 points, led the Red Devils.

Noxon senior Franklin Herschler was also a big part of the Red Devil offense, ending the game with seven points.

The Red Devils moved to the consolation bracket and matched up against the St. Regis Tigers last Friday, in an elimination game.

The game was a thriller and not decided until the final seconds.

St. Regis opened the game with a narrow lead and Noxon trailed 11-9 after one quarter of play.

The game remained close in the second quarter, with the Tigers outscoring the Red Devils 18-14 to give St. Regis a 29-23 lead at the half.

The Red Devils showed they were not ready for their season to end and Noxon went on a 13-2 run to start the second half.

At the start of the fourth quarter, Noxon led the opposition 36-31, but with 33 seconds left the Tigers clung to a 43-41 lead.

The Red Devils made a free throw to make it 43-42 with 14 seconds left and after the Tigers missed a late free throw the Red Devils had a final chance to secure the come from behind win but the game-winning layup attempt did not go as time expired, as the Tigers survived for the 43-42 win.  

Junior Zach Osborne led the Red Devils offense against St. Regis, ending the game with 16 points.

Fitchett also had a productive night on offense, ending with a total of ten points.

With the win on Thursday, the Hot Springs Savage Heat advance to the 14-C semifinals against the Superior Bobcats.

The game with Superior came down to the very end, with a late Hot Springs rally nearly sending the Savage Heat into the 14-C finals against Arlee.

The Savage Heat fell just short and the Bobcats were able to move on to the finals with a 54-50 win last Friday.

The Bobcats jumped out to an early 11-7 lead, but the Savage Heat were right back in it during the second quarter and the game went to halftime with Superior clinging to a 22-19 lead.

It was in the third quarter of play, when momentum shifted and the Bobcats offense appeared to give Superior an insurmountable lead.

Going on a 15-9 run to start the second half, the Bobcats seemed poised to advance to the finals, leading 37-28 with one quarter of play.

However, in the game’s final frame a shootout ensued and though the Savage Heat outscored Superior 22-17 in the fourth, the Bobcats held on for the four point win.

Junior Jack Dolson led the Savage Heat offense against Superior, ending the game with 19 points.

Paro was also a big contributor for Hot Springs, ending the semi-final with 17 points.

The Savage Heat moved to the consolation bracket and matched up against the Two Eagle River Eagles to start their slate of Saturday games.

Keeping their Western C tournament hopes alive the Savage Heat downed Two Eagle River 59-44 in their first elimination game last Saturday.

Despite falling behind early and trailing 13-12 after the first quarter, the Savage Heat bounced back and tied the game at 23 just before halftime.

Starting the second half the Hot Springs offense was clicking on all cylinders and the Savage Heat outscored the Eagles 17-6 in the third quarter.

At the start of the fourth quarter, Hot Springs led 40-29, a lead they would build off of with a 19 point final quarter to secure a spot in the 14-C consolation game.

Gray and Dolson led the Savage Heat offense against Two Eagle River, with both players scoring 12 points.

With a spot in the District C play-in game for the district tournament in Ronan up for grabs, the Savage Heat faced off against the Charlo Vikings last weekend.

Both teams, looking to extend their season fought hard throughout the competition.

The game was deadlocked at the outset, 15-15, and by halftime Charlo held a narrow 31-26 lead over the Savage Heat.

The Vikings distanced themselves from Hot Springs in the second half, outscoring the Savage Heat 11-4 in the third quarter.

With the score 42-30 at the start of the fourth, Charlo held off a late Savage Heat rally to earn the consolation victory, 50-41.

Paro led the Savage Heat offense with 16 points, with Dolson adding 11 points of his own.