Uski sinks game-winner for Hot Springs
If you were in the gym at Hot Springs High School Saturday night you no doubt have one or more of the following:
A) ringing in your ears
B) hoarse throat from cheering/yelling
C) sore hands from gripping the edge of your seat
D) great joy or great sadness, depending upon the outcome of a night of Western 14C basketball, or;
E) all of the above.
Junior guard Josie Uski’s shot from just inside the three point arc as time ran out in overtime to give her Hot Springs Lady Savage Heat a win over visiting St. Regis will be talked about in these parts for a long time to come.
Uski had already set the list of basketball side effects in motion when she drained a three-pointer that sent the game to the extra period and the eventual 63-62 Hot Springs win.
And once in the overtime period, one of the best if not the best girls’ basketball players in the region, Lady Savage Heat senior forward Katelyn Christensen, went seven-for-nine from the free throw line and scored nine of her team’s 11 points to keep things razor close until Uski threw in her game-winning two pointer.
The win may indeed play a key role in seeding for the upcoming 14C playoffs as it gives Hot Springs two wins and keeps them out of the league cellar, which comes with a first round meeting with a number one seed when the playoffs get underway in two weeks.
Christensen, who recently signed a letter-of-intent to take her basketball and track skills to Carroll College in Helena, scored a game-high 30 points as the two teams battled back and forth throughout the course of this extra-time thriller.
Christensen was locked in a battle of college-bound seniors all night long as she and St. Regis standout Baylee Pruitt traded steals, assists and baskets from the opening tip to the final overtime buzzer.
Pruitt, who is bound for Providence College (Great Falls) on a basketball scholarship next year, led the Lady Tigers with 22 points.
St. Regis, which fell to 5-7 in conference play with the loss, was in front for most of the first three quarters of the game. The Lady Tigers led 15-12 after one quarter and enlarged that lead to 31-22 at haltime.
Hot Springs benefited from solid inside play by sophomore Lauryn Aldridge and eighth grader Erica Cannon as they fought to keep the Lady Tigers within striking distance heading into the final eight minutes of play.
Trailing by 10 entering the fourth quarter, Aldridge and Cannon helped offset an earlier rebounding advantage by the Lady Tigers. Along the way, Christensen scored five points, including one three-pointer, and the Lady Savage pulled to within three with 3.6 seconds left in the game.
Enter Uski who drained a three from the right side of the arc, sending her teammates and the partisan Hot Springs crowd into a joyous frenzy.
St. Regis junior sharp-shooter Macy Hill scored the first two points of the four-minute overtime period before Christensen sank a pair of free throws to even the score at 54. Pruitt then put St. Regis back on top when she found the range from beyond the three-point line, giving the Lady Tigers a 57-54 lead with just under two minutes remaining.
Christensen then plopped in another two free throws before Hill sank a long-range three that gave St. Regis the lead, 60-56.
Christensen was once again fouled and once again calmly buried a pair of gift shots to make it 57-56. The two teams traded regular two-pointers over the next minute, giving St. Regis a precarious 62-61 lead.
With the final ticks of the clock nearing zero, Uzki put up a two-pointer that found the bottom of the net as the final buzzer sounded.
Both teams had solid scoring from throughout their rosters. In addition to Christensen’s 30, they got 12 from Cannon, 10 from Kara Christensen (younger sister of Katelyn) and 11 from Aldridge.
Hill scored 17 for St. Regis to go with Pruitt’s 22.
Hot Springs next faces a pair of road games this weekend, with a trip to league-leading Charlo Friday evening, and a second road outing to Pablo to take on the win less Two Eagle River team.
St. Regis will be looking to get back on the winning track when it hosts Two Eagle River this Friday and then travels to Noxon for a game with the Lady Red Devils.