The Plains Trotters have been doing a slow burn this season, gradually heating up, getting a little bit better every time out.

Now that tournament season has arrived, coach Eddie Fultz wouldn’t mind seeing that slow burn turn into a raging Trotter fire. Seeded No. 3 in this week’s District 14C tournament at Ronan, the Trotters will face Two Eagle River in the opening round of the tourney at 2:45 p.m. Thursday.

If the Trotters get by the Eagles, they will face No. 2 seeded Hot Springs Friday at 2:45 in the Ronan Event Center. The top two teams from the 14C tourney then move on to the Western C divisional tournament in Frenchtown Feb. 27-29.

The Trotters appeared as if they were about to burst into flames a few times last week as they warmed up for the tournament season with a 52-9 win over Noxon in Plains Friday and another win by an unknown score in Pablo over Two Eagle River Saturday.

Fultz thinks his Trotters just might be about ready to catch fire. “We have been putting things together bit by bit as the season goes on and I think we have improved a lot,” he said. “If we play like I know we can, we can be a dangerous opponent for anyone.”

As a case in point, one has to look back no further than Jan. 23 to see what Fultz is talking about. The Trotters gave unbeaten regular season champion Charlo one of their toughest tests of the campaign that night, taking the lead briefly in the fourth quarter and remained competitive in the game up until the closing minutes in the 39-30 loss.

The Trotters will likely have to go through Sanders County rival Hot Springs to get another shot at Charlo.

“Hot Springs is a good team, we know what we are up against,” Fultz said. “I think defense is the key for us this week. If we can keep teams in the 40s or low 50s, we could have a good shot of winning.”

Kylee Altmiller scored 21 points to lead Plains past Noxon last week, Kimmy Curry added 12, Krystena Boes five, Celsey VonHeeder and Miera Loberg three each and Kaylah Standeford, Kaylee Cole, Genna Deschamps and Carlie Wagoner two apiece.

See other story for Noxon scoring.