Hot Springs heads into break on high note

The before-Christmas-break basketball games are in the books for Hot Springs and other local hoopsters.

The games are often a measuring stick for progress and things that need changing...or maintaining the status quo. 

In the mixed bag of games that were on the pre-break schedule for the Savage Heat and Lady Heat, there were reasons for optimism amid some areas of concern. 

The boys closed out the 2024 portion of their schedule with a 60-55 home win over Valley Christian, while the girls rolled past VC  44-26, also at home. 

In the Friday night girls' game in Hot Springs, the Lady Heat jumped out to a 15-9 lead after one quarter of play, led by junior standout Kara Christensen who topped the Heat with 16 points.  Seven other Hot Springs players scored during the game. 

Hot Springs’ defense took control in the second quarter, holding the Lady Eagles to four points while the Heat tallied 11, giving the home team a 26-13 halftime lead. 

Defense was the name of the game for Hot Springs in the third quarter also, as they limited the cold-shooting visitors to two points, while tacking on 7 on their side of the scoreboard to boost their lead to 33-15 heading into the fourth quarter. 

Both teams scored 11 points over the final eight minutes of play, giving the Lady Heat the 44-26 win giving Hot Springs their second Western 13C conference win of the young season against no losses. 

Valley Christian remained winless so far this year with the loss.  Senior forward Brooke Jackson chipped in seven points for Hot Springs, while teammates Lilia Sapanel and Erica Cannon had six points each. 

The boys’ game by contrast was a nail-biter from beginning to end, with Valley Christian taking a narrow 14-12 first quarter lead.  But the Savage Heat, who had a full roster after missing three key players in a game earlier last week, rode the inside scoring of 6-4 senior Nick McAllister to a 25-24 halftime lead. 

Valley Christian, which had three players in double figure scoring for the game, struck back in the third quarter, outscoring Hot Springs 17-13 to assume a 41-38 lead heading into quarter number four. 

But McAllister and Weston Slonaker fueled a fourth quarter rally that allowed Hot Springs to erase the third quarter deficit and pass VC enroute to a five-point win. 

McAllister scored a game-high 21 points for the Savage Heat, while Slonaker contributed 12.  Valley Christian was led by Andrew Mckethu, who scored 19 points.  Teammates Nick Korvarvi added 15 for the Eagles and Daniel Stoltzfus had 14. 

The Savage Heat win, which lifted their season mark to 3-2 and gave them a conference opening 1-0 record in 13C play. 

Next on the schedule for the Hot Springs teams is a game January 2 in St. Regis. They stay on the road with a January 4 game against Arlee before returning home January 11 for a conference game against Seeley-Swan.