Lady Savage Heat scratch out win over Noxon

Sometimes when things go sour, it’s hard to sweeten them up. Such is the state of Hot Springs basketball, with both teams struggling to get on the winning track.

Both the boys and girls teams have solid talent, and a heavy dose of youth.

But they call it “mired” in a slump for a reason.

The Savage Heat and Lady Savage Heat hosted Charlo and Noxon this weekend and came away with head-scratching outcomes.

The boys dropped a pair of games with the visitors, falling to 14C conference co-leader Charlo 65-44 Friday night, then losing a close contest with Noxon 58-53.

The Lady Savage Heat also lost to Charlo’s girls Friday night, 52-30. However, they pulled it together Saturday and scored a big victory over Noxon, 50-26.

Friday night the Lady Vikings took a three-point lead, 12-9, after the first quarter of play in what looked to be a classic defensive battle. Charlo managed to add one more point to their lead in the second quarter, giving them a 23-19 halftime advantage.

But the second half was a different story as the Lady Heat were bottled up by the Charlo defense while the Heat were outscored 29-11 in the third and fourth quarters.

Darcy Coleman and Seeley McDonald each scored 11 points for Charlo, which rose to 3-0 in 14C play and 6-4 on the year with the win.

The loss dropped the Lady Savage Heat to 1-1 in conference play and 2-5 on the year.

Saturday night was a much better outcome for Hot Springs’ girls, who are a talented group. They emerged from the first quarter of their game with the Noxon Lady Devils holding onto a 6-5 lead.

But the Hot Springs defense took control in the second quarter, holding Noxon to two points while the offense put up 10, giving the home team a 16-7 halftime lead.

The Heat got a game-high 24 points from standout sophomore guard Kara Christensen who helped the Heat outscore Noxon 20-7 in the third quarter to take a 36-14 lead with one quarter to play. They added two points to their margin of victory in the final quarter to secure the win.

The timely victory bumped Hot Springs to 2-1 in 14C action and 3-5 on the year. Senior post Lauryn Aldridge added 10 to the Lady Heat cause.

Morgan Swanson led Noxon with nine points.

The boys, meanwhile, came into their game with Charlo having lost four of their last five, the lone victory a lopsided win over Alberton.

Charlo assumed a two-point, 10-8 lead after the first quarter of play. Then outscored Hot Springs 20-3 in the second quarter on their way to a 30-11 halftime advantage.

The Heat fought back in the second half, trimming five points off the Charlo lead by outscoring the Vikings 17-12 in the third quarter.

But the visitors quashed any hopes of a prolonged rally when they outpointed Hot Springs 23-16 over the final eight minutes of play to secure the win and bump their season mark to 6-4. The Vikings are tied with Two Eagle River and St. Regis for the 14C lead.

The senior-led Vikings got double figure scoring from four players, led by 6-6 senior post Wesley Anderson’s 21. They also got 13 points from 6-7 senior Hayden Smith, and 11 points each from Hayden Hollow and Jacob Tomlin.

Next up for the Heat was a Saturday home game with Noxon, which grabbed an early 10-0 lead over the Heat, before Hot Springs shook off the deficit. By the end of the frantic first quarter, Noxon was in front, 14-11

Hot Springs used the momentum from their first quarter rally to outscore the Red Devils 15-9 in the second quarter, giving them a 26-23 lead at the half.

In the third quarter, Noxon reversed the results from quarter number two, out-pointing the home team Heat 15-9 to erase the Hot Springs lead and give them a 38-35 lead heading into the final quarter of regulation play.

Another fast action quarter ensued and when the final whistle sounded, Noxon had tacked two points onto their third quarter lead to nail down a five point win.

Heat 6-3 junior forward Nick McAllister led Hot Springs in scoring with 16 points, but it was not enough to offset the 31-points poured in by Noxon’s 6-4 forward Shane Murray who battled McAllister in the paint throughout the game. The Red Devils also got 14 points from forward Ricky Williams as they squared their conference record at 2-2 and improved their overall record to 2-4.

The pair of weekend losses left Hot Springs with a 1-4 record in 14C play and a 2-7 overall record.

Hot Springs’ teams have just one game scheduled this week, a Thursday night home game with St. Regis, which is also Senior night for the Heat.

Noxon travels to Troy this Friday for a pair of games against the Trojans and Lady Trojans. The boys then have a home game against Alberton this Saturday night.