The Hot Springs Savage Heat boys won’t go away without a fight.

The battling Savage Heat won two out of three games last week, falling 86-50 to District 14C-leading Arlee in Hot Springs Jan. 22, and then vanquishing Victor 64-51 in Victor Thursday before hosting Valley Christian Saturday and sending the Eagles home on the short end of a 68-49 score.

Now 3-5 in 14C play, coach Cameron Barber and his Heat face two important conference tests this week, hosting Plains Friday and visiting Noxon Saturday. The reason these games are important is simple, Plains is 4-4 in league play and Noxon is 4-5, and all three teams are fighting for third place standing in the conference.

“Both games are big for us this week,” Barber said. “We could potentially get into third place or fall all the way to fifth.”

A talented group but without a lot of depth, the Savage Heat still played Arlee tough before falling back. “We just ran out of gas against them in the second half,” Barber said. “They are so deep that they had fresh players subbing in and we couldn’t keep up with our thin bench.”

Tyler Knudsen led the Heat versus the Warriors with 17 points and six rebounds, Brandon Knudsen added 14 points, Kyle Lawson 11, Tyler Carr four and Jack McAllister and Luke Waterbury three apiece. Waterbury led Hot Springs on the glass with nine rebounds.

Greg Whitesell led Arlee to the win with 30 points, Lane Johnson added 10 and Cody Tanner nine.

The Heat roared out to a fast start in Victor – building a lead of 25-10 after one quarter – and never trailed after that. Barber said the Heat were on fire from the outside in that first quarter, nailing five 3-pointers, including three from McAllister.

McAllister finished with 20 points to pace Hot Springs, Brandon Knudsen added 12, Tyler Knudsen 11, Waterbury nine, Carr eight, Lawson three and Nate Lawhead one.

Skyler Webberson scored 18 points to pace Victor and Mason Agee threw in nine.

Cold from the outside, the Heat pounded the ball inside against Valley to gain some separation and move to the win. Barber was proud of how the Heat handled the ball; “As a team we had only 10 turnovers in the game,” he said. “We really took care of the ball.”

Brandon Knudsen scored 20 points to lead the Savage Heat, Tyler Knudsen was good for 16 points and 10 rebounds, Carr for 12 points and 12 boards, McAllister scored eight points, Benedict Waterbury six and Lawson and Luke Waterbury three apiece.

Riley Reimer led Valley Christian with 16 points, Eyan Becker added 14 and Casey Reimer 12.