Hot Springs goes 0-2 at divisonal tourney

It was a rough start to the Western Divisional girls basketball tournament in Butte this past weekend for Hot Springs.

After qualifying for the Divisional tourney the week before with a fourth-place finish in the 13C District tourney, the Lady Heat headed to Butte with high hopes for their young team.

Unfortunately, their first-round matchup was a game versus 12C top seeded Shields Valley, regular season victors of the 12C.

The Lady Rebels took advantage of cold-shooting and shaky passing on the part of Hot Springs and jumped out to a 17-3 lead after the first quarter.

The two teams battled to a 13-13 second quarter stalemate, giving Shields a 30-16 halftime advantage.

In the third quarter, the Rebels erupted for 29 points, while limiting the Lady Heat to eight enroute to a 59-24 lead with one quarter to play in regulation.

Shields Valley tacked another five points onto their lead in the fourth quarter to secure the lopsided win and send Hot Springs into the consolation rounds.

Junior guard Kara Christensen had a game-high 17 points for Hot Springs, but it was not enough to offset the four players from Shields Valley who scored in double figures, paced by 14 points from Nikki Swandal.

Next up for Hot Springs was a consolation game against area rival Charlo, the second seed from the 13C tournament. Charlo beat the Heat 50-48 in Hot Springs during the regular season.

The Vikings cruised to a 17-4 lead after the first eight minutes of play, but Hot Springs battled back in the second quarter, trimmed five points off the Charlo lead, which was 25-17 at the half.

Hot Springs regrouped and outscored Charlo 17-7 in the third quarter, giving them a 34-32 lead heading into the final quarter. The Lady Vikings rallied to tie the game at 44-44 by the end of the fourth quarter, sending the game into a four-minute overtime period.

The two traded baskets in the early moments of the OT period before Charlo managed to pull ahead in the final minutes, then hold on for a 54-51 victory that knocked Hot Springs out of the tourney and sent Charlo to the consolation finals.

French foreign exchange junior Lilia Sapanel led Hot Springs with 17 points, while Christensen contributed 16 and junior guard Callie Cano added 10 for the Heat.

Hot Springs finished the season with a 13-11 record. They lose just one senior, forward Brooke Jackson, to graduation this year, while Sapanel will return to France to complete her high school education.

Breille Zempel scored a game-high 20 for Charlo, which lost in the consolation finals 67-30 to Manhattan Christian.

    Junior guard Kara Christensen goes up for two during Hot Springs' playoff game at the Western C Divisional tourney this past weekend in Butte. (Photo by Jen Christensen)