Plains takes on Hot Springs in county match up

HOT SPRINGS/PLAINS – The Plains Trotters came away with a decisive win after their rivalry conference game against the Hot Springs Lady Savage Heat, Saturday evening.

The Plains girls leapt out to an early lead, Hot Springs fighting to pull them back. The home team had a number of good plays, though; one such play saw back to back baskets where the Trotters made a basket, then stole the ball back from the Lady Savage Heat for another quick basket. The first quarter closed with a score of 21-2.

The second quarter saw a similar performance. Both teams had good plays, with Plains making great passes and the Hot Springs girls intercepting the ball after shots with ease. The Trotters continued their advance, halting the Hot Springs offense and keeping them from their basket. The end of the first half saw Plains gain another 12 points over the Lady Savage Heat.

The second half almost looked like it would be a repeat of the first, but Hot Springs suddenly broke through the Trotters’ defense. The girls brought in a number of scores, beginning to edge back. However, the Plains offense was still strong and they kept their lead open. The third quarter closed at 43-8.

In the final quarter, Hot Springs fought hard to keep Plains from securing more points; while the Trotters worked to further increase their lead, the Lady Savage Heat defenders were able to hold them back from a repeat of the explosion of points from earlier in the game. The game closed with a final score of 52-8.

Plains Head Coach Richard Griffin was proud of his team, noting the girls were starting to do things they had discussed in practice; some of these included looking for the open player to pass to and controlling the court with their movement. He felt it was a good team win where everyone had some time on the court.

The girls also brought in some good stats. Kimberly Earhart made seven assists, Carley VonHeeder had 13 rebounds and Jessica Thompson made several good maneuvers.

The coach also said they were able to limit turnovers during the game.

“We try to keep our turnovers under 10 if we can,” Griffin said. 

Michele Hunter, head coach for Hot Springs, felt it was not their best game. She said they needed to work hard at coming together more and focus on the positive. She is confident, though, and feels the team’s youth lets them bounce back to pick things up faster. They will also be looking into their strategies to see how they can improve.

“If you can’t get to the free-throw line one time in a game, there’s something wrong,” Hunter said.

She also felt there would be a change in their skill set soon when two girls returne to the team after being injured.

Some of the girls did especially well during the game; Carley Lawson and Stacy Grey were both commended for their strong games and good performance during the match. 

The Lady Savage Heat also had a game against Noxon last week, which they lost by 20 points. Hunter said they needed to keep their offense going and not let the opposing team control the court as much. 

During practices, the Lady Savage Heat will be working on improving their offensive strategies.

A few days before the Saturday game, the Trotters also had a game against the St. Regis Lady Tigers. The game came to a close with a score of 40-29 to Plains.

Griffin said they played hard, but not together. They struggled with some areas of working together. They also had a number of baskets that did not go through as well as they hoped.

“We were getting shots off, we just had to get them to fall,” Griffin said.

The coach attributed it to coming off Christmas break, where there were no games to apply the things talked about in practice. This was the girls’ first time playing a real game since the holidays.

The Trotters play two games this week. They will play a home game against Two Eagle River, then a game in Noxon. Griffin said they would just need to come prepared; they have played Noxon before, but Two Eagle is an unknown.

“We’ll just have to go in prepared,” he said.

This week, the Lady Savage Heat will be playing against Charlo and St. Regis. Hunter noted they were two of the strongest teams in the conference and felt it would be a tough week for them.