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There comes a time in every season when a team has to gauge where they stand in the grand scheme of things.

“It’s gut-check time,” Hot Springs girls basketball coach Richard Jackson said. “The second half of the season is underway and teams need to start stepping up if they hope to make some noise at tournament time.”

Hoping his Savage Heat are at least one of the teams stepping up to the challenge, Jackson and his Hot Springs girls were to have hosted District 14C-leading Arlee Tuesday (results of that game were not available at press time) and will travel to Victor for a non-conference game with the Lady Pirates Thursday.

Jackson knows what his girls need to do from now on out. “Hustle has been our bread and butter, that keeps us afloat and keeps us in games,” he said. “But, at some point, we need to start shooting the ball better.

“We need to put the ball in the basket, we have been playing hard but our shots have not been falling,” he added. “It would be nice to see somebody step up and start making some shots because I think we can play with anybody in this league if we do.”

The Heat had only one game last week and took out their frustrations on Two Eagle River in Pablo Thursday, unceremoniously dumping the Eagles, although the final result and individual scoring were not available from that game.

“We suited everyone up for that game, all 13 players we have,” Jackson said, “and everybody got lots of playing time. It was a good game for us.”

Jackson feels his team is ready for the rest of it after battling through some illness issues.

“Everybody seems to be finally getting healthier,” he said. “Maybe we are starting to get our antibodies up and winning this battle at least.”

Looking down the road, Jackson knows what he would like to see. “We need to get better every week,” he said. “We have to use every game as something we can build on.

“We are like every other team, we have goals,” he added. “To reach those goals we have to play well every time out.”