Sanders County basketball kicked off their season in Hamilton last weekend. The Hot Springs Savage Heat girls came home victorious with two wins; Friday night's game against Darby with a score of 40-26 and Saturday's game against Victor with a score of 52-38. On Friday, Lauryn Aldridge made nine rebounds, Lily Detienne scored 12 points and had four steals and Kara Christensen scored 13 points.

Hot Springs started out tough on Saturday and held onto the lead by double digits in the first two quarters. In the third quarter the heat was on when Christensen made an amazing shot after many grabs on the ball. Blazing down the court Brooke Jackson chalked up 8 points, 14 rebounds and 4 assists, Christensen with 9 points and 11 rebounds and Detienne racked up 16 points.

"I didn't know what to expect from this group but I'm really excited after this weekend! It's going to be a fun season; six girls strong, nicknamed 'Super Six'," said Coach Richard Jackson.

The boys Savage Heat was defeated in their first game of the season by Darby on Friday, 54-32. Nick McAllister scored 11 points and Garth Parker scored 10 points. The boys played tough on Saturday against Victor in a neck-and-neck game with some good suspense at the end and two penalty shots for Victor in the last 10 seconds with the Savage Heat prevailing, 41-38.

Coach Reiley Winebrenner said that Jody Page played a heck of a game as a bench player, racking in 10 points for the team. "I'm happy with the game, we're learning to play together. This game we had a lot of inside scoring, but we're working on jump shots," said Winebrenner.

The Plains Horsemen had some good rivalry, falling to St. Regis on Friday 60-41. Coach Tyrell Allen said the team turned the ball over in the first quarter but said they got some good rebounds by Zayden Allen with 10 and Anaya Loberg with 12.

Saturday's game against Superior was a win of 69-47. "They generated a lot of energy on offense and played better as a team," said Allen. They played fiercely, leading the game throughout with some tricky maneuvering by Allen for two points and a 3 point shot by Eduardo Perianz in the fourth quarter.

The Plains Trotters were defeated by St. Regis on Friday 22-47. The leading scorer for Plains was junior Trystan Larsen with 9 points. On Saturday the girls played Superior with a final score of 10-41 Superior. They gained the last six points by Maddie Blood in the fourth quarter.

The Noxon boys basketball team played Lincoln on Friday with a loss of 25-61. They came back tighter in Saturday's game against Granite, although defeated 39-59, starting out strong in the first, second and fourth quarters.

"It was a great effort. We're a young team but with lots of athletic potential," said coach Mike Benson. In Saturday's game, Sam Christenson had 3 rebounds, Shane Murray scored 13 points with 12 rebounds, Ricky Williams got 8 points and 2 rebounds, Zack Storaassli scored 10 points with 3 rebounds, Justice Kaysler scored 6 points and nine rebounds and Jaden Elder scored 2 with 2 rebounds.

Jennifer Curran

Senior Lily DeTienne of Hot Springs races down the court against Victor at the Hamilton Tip-Off tournament.

Noxon's girls basketball team came away with a win on Friday against Lincoln with a close game of 27-25. "Friday night the girls played some good defense. On the offense the girls were able to run through plays, looking for advantages to take," said coach Cortney Vohs. Emily Brown chalked up 23 points, and both Maygan Swanson and Callie Cano got a couple of points each.

Vohs said that Saturday was a tougher game for them, defeated by Granite, 46-14. "I have to say the girls played amazing even though it doesn't show point wise. We just had girls not making their shots. On the other hand, I did have girls step up and take some chances on the offensive. They fought hard!" said Vohs.