Knudsen's big games lead Savage Heat boys to two wins

Two home games, two wins.

Hot Springs senior Brandon Knudsen had a good week. Those are the undeniable facts for the Savage Heat boys basketball team.

Friday night, Knudsen lit up the Troy Trojans for 30 points and got double-figure scoring help from a pair of teammates as Hot Springs dispatched the winless Troy Trojans 67-49.

The night before, Knudsen scored 36 points as the home-standing Savage Heat defeated Two Eagle River, 79-67.

Against Troy, the Savage Heat used hot shooting and solid defense to jump to an early lead and expanded their advantage throughout the game.

By the end of the first quarter, Hot Springs held a 23-16 lead, then outscored Troy 18-8 in the

second period to take a solid 41-24 lead at halftime.

With Knudsen scoring inside and out, Hot Springs battled the Trojans basket for basket the rest of the way to lift their season record to 7-5.

Sophomores Jack McAllister and Kyle Lawson scored 12 and 11 points respectively to aid in the win.

Thursday evening at home was almost an identical situation as Hot Springs beat the Eagles.

Against Two Eagle River, Knudsen and crew erupted for a 21-11 lead by the end of the first quarter, then held onto that lead throughout the rest of the game as both teams traded buckets throughout the night.

The two teams battled to a scoring stalemate in both the second and third quarters tallying 20 points each in the second and 16 apiece in the third.

By the end of three quarters the game was 57-47 in favor of Hot Springs.

With Knudsen scoring from all over the court, the Savage Heat added two points to that lead in the fourth.

As was the case in the win over Troy, the Savage Heat got double figure scoring from the two sophomores, with Lawson tossing in 14 points and McAllister adding 10.

Hot Springs has only one game this week, a road trip to play Valley Christian Friday.

They return to action the following week with a Thursday, Feb. 6 game against Noxon.