A strong beginning propelled the Hot Springs Savage Heat boys basketball team to a 51-21 win over Victor Saturday.

Hot Springs ouscored Victor 12-3 in the opening frame and built their lead.

Savage Heat 5-foot-10-inch senior Brandon Knudsen scored several layups in the second quarter to make it 20-9.

Hot Springs opened the third quarter with two consecutive layups by Knudsen. That started a 6-0 run, making it 26-9.

Nathan Lawhead, a freshman for Hot Springs, scored on a putback to make it 32-11.

After that, 5-foot-10-inch sophomore Jack McAllister, hit a 3-pointer to give the Savage Heat a 30-point lead, 41-11.

“We’ve improved quite a bit over our last game,” head coach Scott Fredrickson said. “We’ve got a ways to go, but I’m happy with where we are. We’re quick and we’ve got to turn that into some points. We missed a lot of easy points. That will get better.”

Fredrickson lauded the play of his players.

“We’ve got five or six layers that are pretty strong, once we get all the kinks worked out were going to be just fine. Brandon, he’s really tough. He’s a heck of a player. Jack and Brandon have kind of been our leaders, as far as scoring goes,” Fredrickson said.

He also described what his team needs to do to improve for future games.

“Just moving the ball around in offense. They are used to running a lot of set plays and we are trying to get them to run a motion

offense. We are kind of struggling a bit with it but it’s getting better. Got a little sloppy there at the end.”

Hot Springs plays at Two Eagle River Thursday and hosts Seeley Swan Friday. It will then be off until Jan. 2 when it plays at Mission.