St. Regis outlasts Hot Springs in clash of top teams

It was a clash of top area boys basketball teams.

And for the first half, the home team St. Regis Tigers and the visiting Hot Springs Savage Heat, engaged in an intense contest for early season bragging rights, despite an outbreak of flu, co-vid and seasonal colds that brought coaches, players and fans alike to their knees.

Despite nature’s whack, St. Regis found a way to pull away from Hot Springs in the second half, thanks in large part to their hustling, swarming defense and some timely shooting from long-distance.

In the end, St. Regis won, 48-30.

This past week, St. Regis hosted Drummond and fell to the Trojans 51-40 in a battle of two tall and talented teams.

But first up was the St. Regis-Hot Springs game.

In what was a match-up between two young teams, each with a senior standout, St. Regis sophomore forward Barrette Bassette, a 6-1 transfer new to the Tigers this year, scored seven points to help the Tigers take a narrow 14-11 lead after the first quarter of play on a night when the stately old gym in St. Regis was full of fans from both sides.

These are two young Western 14C conference teams who have a core of solid juniors and sophomores. They also each have a tested senior standout, St. Regis in all-everything forward John Pruitt, and Hot Springs in the form of 6-1 forward Quincy Styles-Depoe.

The Tigers came out strong in the third quarter, led by eight points from Pruitt, as they plowed their way to a 40-26 lead heading into the fourth quarter of regulation.

St. Regis added four to its lead in the final eight minutes of play to secure the 48-30 win.

Pruitt, who was a major factor on the boards, led all scorers with 17 points, while teammate Bassette added nine. Freshman point guard Conner Lulis chipped in eight points for the Tigers, who improved to 3-2 in early season play. Hot Springs, meanwhile, got 14 points from junior post Nick McAllister, who also scored eight points in the opening quarter.

Weston Slonaker added eight points for the Heat, who fell to 1-4 with the loss and a subsequent loss to Drummond the following week.

In the Drummond game, played this past week in St. Regis, the visiting Trojans cruised into town and left with an impressive 51-40 win over the Tigers. The win boosted Drummond, which sits atop the 13C conference, to 4-1 for the year.

Both teams took advantage of their work in the rebounding department, with the Trojans coming out of the first quarter with a razor-thin 12-11 lead. The second quarter was more of the same as Drummonds large front line fought McAllister and crew to a standstill.

By the end of the first half, Drummond had cobbled together a 25-12 lead.

Pruitt was held to just five points in the third quarter, while junior teammate Hunter Stolla, who poured in seven second quarter points, including two long three’s, was held scoreless in the third period as Drummond moved out to a 42-30 advantage with one quarter to play.

The two teams played even over the fourth quarter as the Trojans held on to their early lead on the way to the 51-40 victory. Lulis topped the Tigers with 12 points against Drummond, while Pruitt added 11.

The Tigers are hoping to get a few key players off the injury list over the Christmas break, including 6-3 senior James Roe, who has been sidelined so far this basketball season with a shoulder injury he sustained during the football season.

Next up for St. Regis is a road trip to Seeley, Friday, December 5, for a game against the Blackhawks. They return home the next night for a game with Troy.

    Tigers senior forward John Pruitt lofts a long three-pointer during St. Regis' 48-30 win over Hot Springs. (Chuck Bandel/VP-MI)