Lady Savage Heat hoops roster shapes up
Hot Springs junior Kara Christensen (left) and senior Brooke Jackson (right) work on dribbling skills during a preseason practice this past week in Hot Springs. (Chuck Bandel/VP-MI)
They lost only one player, but she was a key component of last year’s Lady Savage Heat basketball team, graduated senior Lauryn Aldridge, a solid rebounder and scorer from the 2023-24 team.
But head coach Richard Jackson returns a solid lineup hoping to improve on last year’s 10-9 team, which qualified for the Western division post-season tournament.
And the returnees include a pair of standout players in senior guard-forward Brooke Jackson and junior guard Kara Christensen, a 5-8 playmaker. They will be joined by a newcomer with unknown potential, French foreign exchange student Lilia Sapanel, a 5-10 forward.
Joining Christensen in the backcourt is junior Callie Cano, who gives the Lady Heat a strong duo to control and distribute the ball and lead the Hot Springs attack.
Erica Cannon is also expected to play a key role in the front court, giving the Lady Heat rebounding and inside scoring potential.
The Lady Heat opened last season with a 3-1 record, then encountered a four-game losing streak. They regrouped and won six straight games and finished second in the 14C District tournament. They advanced to the Western Division post-season tournament in Frenchtown but did not advance to state.
This year’s team, coach Jackson said, was focusing on defense as they look to improve last year’s showing.
“We have four starters coming back,” Jackson said. “We are working to improve our outside shooting this year and improve our free-throw percentage. We are also focused on turning the ball over less this year”.
This year the team will play in the new 13C District, which is a combination of the 14C and 13C teams from years past.
Jackson said the new division will be formidable, including always tough Charlo, Philipsburg, Drummond, Seeley and Lincoln.
“We feel pretty good coming into the season,” Jackson said, as he and assistant coach Randi Arnold conducted first-week of practice drills.
They face a tough opening slate of games to begin the season, including the Hamilton tourney this Friday and Saturday. Next week they have road games in Superior and Philipsburg, before opening their home schedule December 17 against Class B Plains.