Sanders County Ledger - Your Best Source For Sanders County News

The Hot Springs Lady Savage Heat brought the hardware home last weekend, taking second at the 14-C District tournament in Polson, securing themselves a spot at divisionals. The Savage Heat boys finished third in the district, but fell in a playoff game with Drummond on Monday. While the Noxon Red Devils fought a valiant fight, both the boys and girls teams finished their seasons at District.

It was the Noxon Lady Red Devils who opened the tournament Thursday facing off against the Lady Eagles of Two Eagle River, falling short of the win 30-19. Swiftly the Lady Eagles came out to gain the first points, and the early lead. That was until Seanna Ritcher was able to capitalize off a steal to tie up the game. Noxon took the lead when freshman Abby Yoder sank two from the free throw line. Headed into the second quarter the Lady Devils were only down by two points, but a quick Lady Eagle three allowed them to make the point gap larger. Noxon kept the pressure with intense defense, making Two Eagle work harder for every basket. And at the half Noxon was once again only down by two points. Coming back from the half the Lady Eagles brought new fire, and would keep the young Lady Devils scoreless the whole quarter. Noxon never faltered and continued with their intensity, putting full court pressure on the Lady Eagles, and keeping them to minimal scoring. But it wasn't enough to take the lead or the win.

Ritcher would be the lead scorer for the Lady Devils with eight points, Yoder and senior Maygan Swanson had five each.

It was a Sanders County match up next as the Noxon Red Devils took on the Hot Springs Savage Heat. The Savage Heat lived up to their name coming out with fire quickly taking an eight-point lead. Noxon was able to find themselves on the free throw line to earn their first point. Hot Springs kept their aggressive defense and their massive lead over the Red Devils going into the second quarter. Noxon was able to break past the full-court pressure to put more points on the board, but Hot Springs was able to keep their lead. With only seconds left before the half Michael Merriman hit an incredible buzzer shot for the Savage Heat making the score 21-7. Noxon came out with new fire in the second half, quickly getting the first points to try and close the large point gap. The Savage Heat were able to answer with a basket of their own. Noxon was able to shut down the tight knit Hot Springs defense, putting up 10 points for the whole quarter while keeping the Savage Heat to only two baskets. Headed into the final quarter Noxon never let up on their intensity, they were able to shorten the point gap but it would be the Savage Heat who would take the 42-35 win.

Weston Slonaker led Hot Springs with a massive 16 points, Nick Mcallister was close behind with 11, while Quincy Styles-Depoe put down six and freshman Ben Aldridge had five for the Savage Heat.

No surprise that Ricky Williams and Aiden Currie led Noxon with 10 each, while Shane Murray was behind with eight.

The Lady Savage Heat took to the court on Friday as they had a bye for the first round of the tournament, winning their first game 39-33 over the St Regis Tigers. The powerhouse teams would go back and forth in the first quarter and at the end they were tied up at seven each. In the second quarter, Hot Springs was able to capitalize off several steals, and going into the half had a one-point lead over the Tigers. Hot Springs would lose their lead in the third quarter but was able to keep close behind St. Regis. Going into the final quarter the Lady Tigers were able to keep their two-point lead, but Kara Christensen was able to show her quick hands getting a steal to find senior Lauryn Aldridge at the basket to tie up the game. Aldrige proved to be a powerhouse in the paint getting another rebound, and a Lady Heat basket to take back the lead. Hot Springs was able to keep the St. Regis to only one more basket. Before they took the lead and the win.

Christensen and Aldridge led the Savage Heat with nine points each, Erica Cannon close behind with eight, while Brooke Jackson and Callie Cano had six each.

The Savage Heat boys took to the court once again to face St. Regis, falling 60-45. The Tigers came out on fire getting a six-point lead before the Savage Heat would score. St. Regis would put up another two baskets before Hot Springs was able to answer with a basket of their own. With less than a minute left the Savage Heat were only down by three points. Coming into the second quarter, it would be the Savage Heat who would put down the first basket, only to be answered with a massive Tiger three-pointer. St. Regis would pull ahead by seven points early in the second quarter. Hot Springs was able to break past the full court pressure but were unable to close the gap before the half. Coming back from the half the teams would go back and forth but the Savage Heat were unable to close the sizable point gap the Tigers put between the teams. With the final quarter under way Hot Springs would put intense pressure on St. Regis, keeping them to minimal scoring. But it was not enough to close the point gap and take the win.

McAllister led Hot Springs with an impressive 16 points, Ben Aldridge behind with 11, and Elijah Cambell got five for the Savage Heat.

Saturday, the final day of the tournament, held no shortage of impressive game play. With the Noxon girls once again taking to the court, falling to St. Regis 34-30. St. Regis led out of the gate, but then Noxon was able to gain the lead. Before the buzzer, the Tigers were able to get up once again by two points. The Devils regained the lead eary in the second. Noxon was able to take a six point lead, until a Lady Tiger three put the gap at only three point lead. With less than thirty seconds left, the score was 14-13 and would stay that way going to the half. Coming back from the half, the young Lady Devils kept their momentum, getting the first points. The teams would go scoreless for minutes until a St. Regis basket would tie the game once again. It was short lived as Noxon was able to gain a basket from a swift handed steal. With minutes left in the third quarter it was intense game play as the Lady Devils held a one point lead. Quickly the Tigers came back from a timeout to sink a basket and to take the lead. Headed into the final quarter the young Noxon team held onto their one point lead. With fire the Lady devils came out to get the first basket of the fourth, it was answered back with a St Regis basket. With two minutes left the Lady Tigers captured several steals to take the lead. St regis would keep the Noxon scoreless for the last minutes of the game to take the win.

"These girls are amazing. They knew they had one last chance and they played with their whole hearts. It's been a quirky but fun season, watching them go from taking 10 shots a game to over 50 shots in one game has been amazing," Coach Cory Brodmerkle beamed of her young team.

Ritcher held the lead for Noxon with 10 points, Jasmin Risch behind her with seven, Emma Swanson put down six for the Lady Devils.

The Noxon Red Devils took on the Charlo Vikings, taking the win 52-50. Quickly the Devils came out and took the lead over the Vikings. But Charlo was able to keep the point gap to only two and swiftly took the lead with only a minute left. The Vikings would take their lead into the second quarter, where they would make the point gap larger. Noxon never faltered and getting several steals they were able to close the gap to only two points early on. The score was 30-26 with the Vikings up with only a minute left before the half, the Devils were able to keep Charlo from scoring while putting up their own basket. Coming back from the half it would be Noxon who would get the first basket to tie up the score. The Vikings would put intense pressure on the Devils, but a foul would put Charlo on the free throw line to take the lead once again. The Vikings would once again take a five point lead over Noxon, until a Red Devil three pointer lessened the point gap. Going into the final quarter the Vikings led 44-37, but the Red Devils were able to sink the first basket. Half the quarter was gone in a blink of an eye and Noxon only let Charlo get two baskets, while trying to close the large point gap. The powerhouse teams would go back and forth, until a rebound would allow Sam Christensen to sink a massive three pointer to tie up the game with less than two minutes left. Charlo would put up another basket, but the swift moving Red Devils would put down two baskets to take the win.

"Our players played one of their best games of the season against Charlo and pulled through the last seconds. Although I did almost have a heart attack as Charlo almost made a half court shot to beat us as the buzzer sounded!" Coach Trever Kayser said after the game.

Williams had a massive game getting 21 points for Noxon, Aiden Currie behind with a season high of 12.

Hot Springs took on the Alberton Panthers taking the win 49-34. Swiftly the Savage Heat came out with fire getting the first two baskets before the Panthers had a chance. Hot Springs would put down another basket before Alberton was able to put down a three pointer and a two point basket to close the gap to just a single point between the teams. With two minutes left the Panthers had taken the lead, but a foul would put Hot Springs on the line to tie up the game once again. Alberton would try to take the lead going into the second but was unable to break past the powerhouse defense of Hot Springs. The Panthers would come into the second on the prowl, getting the first two baskets to tie up the game, the Savage Heat were unable to answer back and Alberton would take the lead early on. They would be able to keep their lead, but would go basket for basket with Hot Springs before the half. With thirty seconds left before the half, Hot Springs was able to get two quick steals and baskets to take the lead. The score was 27-23 coming back from the half, Hot Springs would come out with new fire quickly keeping the lead, and putting more points between them and the Panthers. With a minute left before the final quarter the Savage Heat held a large eight point lead over Alberton. They would make that point gap larger at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Hot Springs would keep the Panthers to only four points the whole final quarter. While they were able to get nine themselves to take the win.

Once again we saw Sanders County rivals take to the floor as the Hot Springs Savage Heat took on the Noxon Red Devils in the consolation final.

Hot Springs came out on fire from their win over Alberton and quickly took the lead over the Red Devils. But Noxon was quick to answer basket for basket and at the end of the first it seemed anyone's game as the score was 7-8 with the Savage Heat up. Quickly Noxon found themselves on the freethrow line to close the point gap. After capitalizing off several steals the Red Devils took the lead, soon Noxon was in a bonus and was able to gain the lead after several free throws. And at the half Hot Springs was only down by one point. Hot Springs came out to get the first basket to take the lead once again, but another foul landed Ricky Williams on the three throw line for the Devils who made both for the lead. Noxon banded together to put more points between them and the Savage Heat quickly in the third quarter. It was a Red Devil quarter as they kept the hot handed Hot Springs team to only four points, while putting a voluminous point gap between the teams. Headed to the final quarter the score 30-23, the Savage Heat were able to get the first basket. The Red Devils were unable to answer back, and the crowd saw the Hot Springs team band together to close the point gap. Half way through the fourth quarter Quincy Styles-DePoe hit a massive three pointer for the Savage Heat to take the lead. From there Hot Springs was able to break down the tight knit defense of Noxon turning the tables and creating their own point gap. That was until a swift basket by Adien Currie closed the large gap. And with two minutes left the Red Devils were only down by three, but they were stopped by the powerhouse Savage Heat who kept them scoreless the final minutes to take the 42-34 win.

"I think our boys went from playing their best game to playing their worst, but I am still so proud of them and the season they had." Kayser exclaimed of his team.

The Red Devils were led by Williams and Currie who each got 10 points, Shane Murray behind them with eight.

For the Savage Heat Weston Slonaker put down a massive 16 points, with Nick McAllister behind with 11, and Quincy Styles-DePoe with six.

Finally it was the girls championship game as the Lady Savage Heat of Hot Springs faced the Lady Vikings of Charlo falling 53-27. Hot Springs came out getting the first basket, but it was quickly answered by the aggressive Lady Vikings. Charlo would keep the Lady Heat to only three baskets the whole first quarter while taking a massive 10 point lead. Headed into the second quarter the powerhouse Lady Vikings came out getting the first couple of baskets before Hot Springs was able to answer with a basket of their own. The Lady Heat tried their best to break past the aggressive Charlo defense but couldn't find the basket before the Lady Vikings put more points between them. Charlo would keep Hot Springs scoreless for more than half of the quarter before Kara Christensen was able to get a swift steal to put points on the board. Going into the half the Lady Vikings held a massive 14 point lead over Hot Springs. Coming back from the half the Lady Heat found a new fire, trying to beat Charlo in their own aggressive defense. Putting down the first basket of the third quarter, it was swiftly answered by the Lady Vikings. While Hot Springs tried to make a comeback they were unable to close the mammoth point gap that Charlo put between them. For the final quarter the Lady Heat were determined to put a stop to the Lady Vikings, beefing up their defense. Keeping Charlo to the lowest scoring they had the whole game, while trying to put up their own points.Callie Cano was able to get two back to back steals and baskets for the Lady Savage Heat towards the end of the final quarter. But it wouldn't be enough for the win.

Aldridge led with eight points for Hot Springs, while Cano and Jackson each got six, and Cannon rounded it out with four points.

Skye Hill

Noxon's Ian Brown hits the layup as Quincy Styles-Depoe of Hot Springs defends.

The Hot Springs Savage Heat took on the Drummond Trojans on Monday, falling 64-32 to end their season. Drummond would hold the Savage Heat to only six points for the whole first quarter while taking a massive lead. Coming into the second Hot Springs was unable to break past the tight knit Drummond defense. The Trojans would keep the Savage Heat scoreless for the first half of the quarter, while making the point gap larger. With two minutes left freshman Ben Aldridge was able to find Nick McAllister for a Savage Heat basket. Going into the half the Trojans held a colossal 21 point lead. Headed into the third quarter Hot Springs banded together capitalizing off several rebounds to sink the first baskets. The Savage Heat would hold Drummond from scoring for much of the first half of the quarter while trying to shorten the large point gap. Hot Springs was unable to shut down the aggressive Trojans, and going into the final quarter they were down by 29 points. The Savage Heat never let up and were able to get the first baskets of the fourth quarter with Weston Slonaker sinking several three pointers for Hot Springs. The quick handed Trojans were able to get several steals to make their already mammoth point gap larger. With only minutes left, Hot Springs would try to shut down the tenaciously strong Drummond defense but were unable to lessen the point gap and take the win.

The Hot Springs girls will face off against West Yellowstone at 3:30 p.m Thursday in Frenchtown in the first round of the divisional tournament.