Trotters defeat Lady Savage Heat 61-17

by Adam Robertson Clark Fork Valley
| February 10, 2016 10:45 AM

HOT SPRINGS – The Plains Trotters claimed a strong victory against their county rivals from Hot Springs, Saturday, with a final score of 61-17.

The Lady Savage Heat opened the game with a nice steal by Stacy Gray, racing across the court for a basket. Plains retaliated, though, breaking past to gain a lead over Hot Springs. The Trotters opened to a strong lead as the Hot Springs girls struggled to maintain possession against the Plains defense. The first quarter closed with a score of 19-6 to Plains.

The second quarter saw much of the same performance, as the Lady Savage Heat fought to come back. They were able to advance, breaking through the Trotters’ defenses to bring in a number of points. However, Plains pushed ahead as well improving their lead significantly. Halftime opened with a score of 33-14.

The Lady Savage Heat fought hard in the second half, using some nice moves to maneuver the ball and keep themselves a threat. Plains fought hard too, though, strengthening their own score to a 20 point lead and beyond. In the final quarter, the Trotters were able to keep Hot Springs from gaining any more points and closed the game with a win.

Plains Head Coach Griffin was happy with the outcome. However, he said he wanted to see the girls get back on defense faster and it was taking a little too long for them to switch roles at times.

Lily Huenink and Jessica Thompson led the Trotters in points, getting approximately 13 points each.

Hot Springs Head Coach Michelle Hunter felt the team did with more intensity than they had all season. She felt they were improving as a team, which was good; they have lots of less experienced players this year and a slower start was expected. She also felt their rebounding had improved since they started.

“It’s a very young team, but we’re learning,” Hunter said. “We’re improving every day and it we keep improving we could do something at Districts.”

The coach did note the girls rebounding and defense were much stronger than they have been in past games.