St. Regis Tigers clip Heat in 14C battle

The echoes of “wow!, what a game” had barely quit reverberating through the walls of the Hot Springs gym when the second game of the night got underway.

After being treated to an overtime thriller won by the Hot Springs girls, their boys counterparts had a tough act to follow.

But follow they did in a nail-biter won by the visiting St. Regis Tigers 64-60 in a battle of two of three favorites for the Western 14C boys basketball crown as Districts loom just two weeks away.

And with the exception of the first quarter of play, this game was close the whole way, with numerous ties and lead changes being the norm by game’s end.

St. Regis came to Hot Springs sporting a 7-0 conference record and a 10-3 season mark. St. Regis came in at 5-3 in Western 14C action and 8-4 on the year. One of the host Savage Heat’s losses came just a few weeks earlier when they fell to the Tigers 58-50 in St. Regis.

With the host Savage Heat looking for revenge and St. Regis without the services of injured senior forward Adam Ball, conditions looked ripe for what would have been a mild upset by Hot Springs.

It was not to be, although that outcome was not decided until the final ticks on the game clock.

Ball was being rested due to tendinitis and to help him be ready for the upcoming playoff games.

The opening minute of the game Saturday night featured two plays that have epitomized the season and style of play of both teams. St. Regis junior standout Caleb Ball got things going when he stole the ball, then dished to open teammate John Pruitt who banked it in for a 2-0.

Not to be outdone on the defensive stinginess end, Hot Springs senior Jack McAllister answered with a quick two pointer and both teams were off to the races with their frenetic defensive styles leading the way.

Hot Springs answered that with a three-pointer before Ball swiped the sphere off a Hot Springs pass and sprinted the length of the court for a lay-in that put the score at 5-4. Tigers’ senior forward Tanner Day, who along with Pruitt helped St. Regis overcome the loss of rebounding it normally gets from Adam Ball, scored on a put-back basket a short time later to give the Tigers a 6-5 lead.

Caleb Ball would add three more two pointers in the opening frame as St. Regis pulled away to a 21-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.

But Hot Springs, fighting for playoff seeding, scrapped back in the second quarter. With 6-1 junior forward Nathan Lawhead controlling the glass, the Savage Heat went on an early in the quarter run that pulled them to within four, 23-19 with five minutes still to play in the quarter.

Hot Springs senior Kyle Lawson had the hot hand for the Savage Heat in quarter number two, which closed in a 34-34 standoff.

Buoyed by their success in eliminating the Tigers’ 10-point lead from earlier in the game, Hot Springs played St. Regis even-up in the third quarter as Pruitt and Day scored enough to keep the host team from taking the lead.

Lawson hit a pair of free throws to open the fourth quarter with the two combatants even at 48 points apiece.

St. Regis built their lead back to five points with 5:20 to play in the game, but Hot Springs made yet another charge at the lead. Both teams traded baskets back and forth until the Savage Heat trimmed the Tigers’ lead to 60-58 with less than a minute to play.

Pruitt then nailed a pair of free throws, but those points were quickly offset by a Lawhead two-pointer from underneath the basket.

Pruitt and Caleb Ball each cashed in a free throw in the final 30 seconds of play to build a 64-60 St. Regis lead as time ran out on the Savage Heat.

The win kept the Tigers’ unbeaten conference record in tact and preserved a two-game lead they enjoy over second place Charlo. Hot Springs is one game behind Charlo as the teams head into the final two weeks of play.

Day led all scorers with 22 points for the Tigers, who also got double-figure scoring from Caleb Ball (21) and Pruitt (19). Lawhead paced Hot Springs with 19 points and got help from Garth Parker and Lawson, who both scored 14 points.

St. Regis plays at home this Friday against Two Eagle River, then journeys to Noxon Saturday night to take on the Red Devils.

Hot Springs, meanwhile, plays at second-place Charlo on Friday, then stays on the road for a Saturday night game with Two Eagle River in Pablo.

District tournaments for class C teams begin on Thursday, February 17, with the Western 14C tourney getting underway in Ronan.