Hot Springs girls pick up two wins

It’s probably fair to say the Two Eagle River Eagles boys basketball team would like to see Hot Springs more often.

Probably true also that the Hot Springs’ girls would like to see more of Two Eagle in the coming weeks.

Due to the complicated juggling acts of scheduling and rescheduling, that situation presented itself this past week with TER boys sweeping their Hot Springs counterparts, while the Hot Springs girls did the same to the TER girls.

Arctic air and piles of snow descending on Sanders County two weeks ago caused basketball games to be canceled like bad TV shows.

For the Savage Heat, Lady Heat, Eagles and Lady Eagles, that meant rescheduling canceled games with the end of the season rapidly approaching had to be done as the calendar allowed.

The result was a home and away series of four games in two days, last Tuesday in Hot Springs and this past Thursday in Pablo, home of Two Eagle River High School.

The Hot Springs girls got the re-wired week underway with a 59-49 win over the Lady Eagles, then followed that with a 50-43 win Thursday night at TER.

The boys’ games also involved a sweep, but it was TER doing the sweeping, winning 54-44 Tuesday in Hot Springs, then completing the sweep, 65-53, in Pablo two nights later.

And for good measure amid the confusion, Hot Springs’ boys played a regularly scheduled game against Alberton, which does not have a girls team this year, and the Savage Heat salvaged their week with a 56-37 win over the Panthers, in Hot Springs.

Ain’t you glad you did not choose sports scheduling as a career?

So, with hats off to the Activities Directors who put this jigsaw of a week together, the Lady Heat won their end of the games with TER, beginning Tuesday night when they battled the Lady Eagles to an 11-all standoff after one quarter of play. Hot Springs was particularly effective in the paint, where senior Lauryn Aldridge had a good night scoring and rebounding for the Lady Heat, as did junior forward Brooke Jackson. Aldridge led the Heat with a game-high 19 points, while Jackson added 10. Hot Springs also got ample help from sophomore guard Kara Christensen who tossed in 13 to aid the Lady Heat effort.

By halftime, the Lady Heat had opened a 30-22 lead, which held up the rest of the game, helping Hot Springs to a 4-1 Western 14C conference mark, good for second place behind league leader Charlo.

Keke Tenas was top scorer for Two Eagle with 14 points, but the loss dropped the Lady Eagles to 0-4 in conference play.

Two nights later the two teams tangled again, this time in Pablo but with pretty much identical results.

The Lady Eagles took an 11-7 lead after one quarter, then held on as Hot Springs shaved two points off their advantage to produce a 20-18 TER lead at the half. The Lady Heat outscored the home town Eagles 32-23 in the second half to clinch the win and improve to 5-1 in the conference. Jackson was the leading scorer for Hot Springs with 18 points, while Christensen added 14 for the visitors, playing without Aldridge, who missed the game due to the flu.

Meanwhile, the boys games got underway with Hot Springs taking a 15-12 lead after the first eight minutes of play, then watching as TER outscored them 20-7 in the second quarter to build a 32-22 advantage at the half. The 10-point lead would hold up throughout the rest of the game for TER, which was led in scorer by Talon Addison’s 10 points. Hot Springs played the game without junior post Nick McAllister, who missed the game due to a lower leg injury.

The boys then swapped home courts and resumed the play Thursday night in Pablo, where the first half was a hard-fought, back-and-forth contest throughout. When the halftime horn sounded, TER was ahead 31-26.

Without McAllister’s contributions in scoring and rebounding, Hot Springs could not keep up with the Eagles run and gun attack, as TER outscored Hot Springs 34-27 in the second half. Malacye Piapot had 12 points to lead the Eagles, who improved to 4-2 in league play and 10-4 overall.

Junior Weston Slonaker was the leading scorer for Hot Springs with 14 points, while senior forward Quincy Styles-Depoe pitched in 10.

Two days later, the Hot Springs boys hosted Alberton in another 14C game in what turned out to be a closer-than-expected win over the improving young Panthers.

Hot Springs built a 28-20 first half lead, then pulled away from Alberton in the fourth quarter, outscoring them 15-4 to seal the win.

Slonaker led the Savage Heat with 20 points, while Styles-Depoe netted 16. The Heat also got 11 points from freshman Ben Aldridge. The win over Alberton lifted Hot Springs to 4-10 on the year and 2-7 in conference action. Alberton fell to 0-9 in the 14C and 1-14 on the year.

Hot Springs concludes regular season play with a pair of road games this week, traveling to Noxon Thursday (Feb 8) for a game with the Noxon boys and girls, then heading the other direction Friday for a pair of games versus Charlo.

Alberton’s boys have a road game to Troy this Friday (Feb 9), then conclude regular season play Saturday with a home game against Charlo.

District 14C playoff action is set for February 16-17 in Polson.