ARLEE - Before the season, head coach Dustin Keltner said that

his team was going to be better in the second half of the year.

With the improvements the Warriors are making in this first half,

Keltner's prediction looks like it's going to come true.

The Warriors picked up a nice 46-42 victory over Class B Mission

last Thursday and then battled 14-C "Super District" foe Noxon

close on Saturday, but fell 52-44.

ARLEE - Before the season, head coach Dustin Keltner said that his team was going to be better in the second half of the year. With the improvements the Warriors are making in this first half, Keltner's prediction looks like it's going to come true.

The Warriors picked up a nice 46-42 victory over Class B Mission last Thursday and then battled 14-C "Super District" foe Noxon close on Saturday, but fell 52-44.

Against the Bulldogs, Arlee unleashed a balanced attack with two players scoring in double digits and two others coming close. Both teams played tough in the first quarter and battled to an 8-8 tie. The Warriors came out in the second quarter and grabbed the advantage, going into halftime with a 19-17 lead.

It was looking like a fight to the end, but Arlee asserted itself in the third quarter. Junior Sansavere, the go-to scorer for the Warriors, scored five points in the third and Arlee went on a 16-5 run to put Mission on its heels.

True to Mission Valley rivalry form, the Bulldogs weren't done and came back furiously in the fourth quarter. They scored 20 points to Arlee's 11 in that period but couldn't quite complete the comeback and the Warriors came away with the 46-42 victory.

Along with Sansavere, Josh Reed had 10 points, Christian Haynes had eight and Sam Nelson had seven.

Arlee had narrowly fallen to Mission last season, 46-41. After that, the Warriors won 12 straight including their run to the Class C state championship game.

Against Noxon on Saturday, one of the top teams in the 14-C district, Arlee showed they should be a force to be reckoned with down the stretch and gave the Red Devils all they could handle.

Noxon jumped out to a 14-9 lead after ending the first quarter on a 7-0 run. Arlee wasn't about to go away though, and trailed just 22-19 at halftime.

Arlee took a 24-22 lead in the third quarter but Noxon would retake the lead and went on an 8-0 run at the end of the third to lead 34-28 going into the fourth.

Both teams traded buckets back and forth in the final period, but the Warriors couldn't quite lead the Red Devils. Noxon improved their district record to 4-1 on the second and 5-3 overall. The Warriors are now 1-2 in the district and 3-4 overall.

Junior Sansavere had 13 points for the Warriors while Justin Adams had eight.

NOXON @ ARLEE

Noxon - 14 - 8 - 13 - 17 - 52

Arlee - 9 - 10 - 9 - 16 - 44

Warriors scoring - Sam Nelson 6, Christian Haynes 4, Mark Fullerton 4, Junior Sansavere 13, Josh Reed 6, Dominic Burland 3, Justin Adams 8

ARLEE @ MISSION

Arlee - 8 - 11 - 16 - 11 - 46

Mission - 8 - 9 - 5 - 20 - 42

Warriors scoring - Sam Nelson 7, Mark Fullerton 3, Junior Sansavere 11, Justin Adams 3, Josh Reed 10, Christian Haynes 8, Dominic Burland 4