Home school teams take down Hot Springs

Evidence that home schooling and home school associations are growing in rural Montana were on display in Hot Springs this past week as the Flathead Valley Home School boys’ and girls’ basketball teams swept the Savage Heat and Lady Heat this past Tuesday in Hot Springs.

The Home School boys beat Hot Springs79-50, while the Home School girls cooled off the surging Lady Heat 64-55. 

Both Hot Springs teams bounced back this past Saturday in Victor with the Savage Heat beating Victor’s Pirates 78-4, and the Lady Heat rolling past the Lady Pirates 61-35. 

In the boys’ game between Hot Springs and the Home Schoolers, the visitors ran their way to a 19-9 lead after one quarter of play, then padded that margin by outscoring the Heat 24-16 in the second quarter to take a 43-25 halftime lead. 

Flathead added six points to their lead in the third quarter, giving them a 62-38 lead with eight minutes to play.  In the fourth quarter, Flathead continued their onslaught, adding five more points to their overwhelming lead to ice the victory. 

Weston Slonaker led Hot Springs with 16 points, nine of which he scored in the second quarter.  Senior post Nick McAllister had 13 for the Heat, while Chase DePoe added 10 points to the Hot Springs cause. 

Kai Lott and Patrick Bonner had 15 points each for Flathead Valley. 

Saturday night in Victor, the Savage Heat rebounded, literally and figuratively by pouncing on the Pirates and emerging from the first quarter with a 21-11 lead.  They then outscored Victor 24-8 in the second quarter enroute to a 45-19 halftime advantage. 

Victor fought back in the third quarter but still fell behind by another two points as Hot Springs headed into the fourth quarter with a 63-35 lead. 

They then outscored the Pirates 15-9 in the final eight minutes of play to seal the deal, improving the overall season mark to 6-9 and lifting their 13C record to 5-3. 

The Hot Springs girls, who had won five of their last seven games, improved their season record to 10-5 and their 13C record to 5-2 with the victory. Victor’s girls dropped to 3-5 in the conference and 5-10 on the year. 

Junior forward Lilia Sapanel led all scorers with 21 points for the Lady Heat, who also got 11 from senior forward Brooke Jackson and nine points from junior guard Kara Christensen.  C. Pollan led Victor with 13 points. 

Earlier in the week, Hot Springs’ girls battled Flathead Valley to an 8-8 tie after one quarter in Hot Springs.  The visitors then outscored the Lady Heat 16-13 in the second quarter, giving them a 24-21 halftime edge. 

The Home Schoolers then outscored Hot Springs 22-14 in the third quarter, putting them up 46-35 with one quarter to play.  Hot Springs fought back in the final eight minutes, outpointing Flathead Valley 20-18 but it was too little, too late to overcome the visitors’ lead. 

Jackson led Hot Springs with 15 points, one better than teammate Sapanel, who had 14 points.  Jackson had seven points in the fourth quarter and four points in the third on 4-4 free throw shooting. 

The Hot Springs teams have just one game this week, with both the boys and girls hosting Two Eagle River this Thursday (Feb 6) in Hot Springs. 

    Lady Heat senior forward Brooke Jackson (22) shoots over a Flathead Valley Home School defender during their game this past week in Hot Springs.  (Photo by Jen Christensen)