It was a mixed bag of results for the Hot Springs boys and girls basketball teams this past week.

The boys swept a pair of games versus Noxon and Seeley-Swan to continue their impressive start to the 2021-22 season, while the girls dropped a pair of contests to the same opponents, but not before missing their first victory of the year by a couple inches.

The boys opened the week against Noxon Friday night and had little trouble dispatching the visiting Red Devils by a 62-30 margin.

They closed out the weekend’s play with a narrow 55-52 win over Seeley Saturday night.

Against Noxon, Hot Springs controlled the backboards and the tempo early on as they roared out to a big 28-7 lead by the end of the first quarter. Senior forward Jack McAllister paced the Savage Heat attack during the opening eight minutes of play by scoring 10 points, including a long-distance three. McAllister was also a force on the offensive and defensive rebounding aspect, controlling the boards on both ends of the floor.

It was more of the same in the second quarter, with Plains transfer Garth Parker, a 6-3 junior post, scoring five points and snaring several key rebounds for the Heat. McAllister and 6-1 junior Nathan Lawhead chipped in four points each as the host team coasted to a 45-15 lead at halftime.

With a large lead in hand, Hot Springs was able to give some valuable varsity time to several of its stable of talented, younger players the rest of the way. Sophomore Quincy Styles-Depoe led the group with five points during the third quarter while McAllister and Kyle Lawson, the two leading seniors on the team, were able to get some rest on the pines.

At the end of three quarters, the Savage Heat led 56-24 on their way to the win.

McAllister finished with a game-high 16 points, while Noxon was paced by nine points from senior Derreck Christensen.

Saturday night the Hot Springs boys stayed home to take on the Seeley Blackhawks in what promised to be a much tougher matchup.

The Blackhawks came to town fresh off a 64-33 drubbing of Superior Friday night, and were able to take a narrow 18-16 lead by the end of the first quarter against the Savage Heat.

The tall and athletic Seeley crew extended the lead in the second quarter when they outscored Hot Springs 12-9, easing into halftime with a slim 30-25 advantage.

Hot Springs used its smothering, aggressive defense to slow the visitors offense in the third quarter and were able to trim one point off the lead, trailing 37-33 heading into the final eight minutes of play.

The final quarter belonged to the home team, which outscored Seeley 22-15, as McAllister and crew found the range offensively and out-worked the Blackhawks on defense.

The win improved the Savage Heat to 3-1 on the year. Hot Springs has just one game left on its schedule before the Christmas break, a home game this Friday against Two Eagle River.

For the Hot Springs girls, the agony of defeat continued. But they showed signs of fighting their way out of the loss column and came within a missed three-pointer at the buzzer to beating the Noxon girls Friday night.

The two teams battled back and forth in the first quarter, as both team’s key players swapped baskets. Hot Springs’ senior standout Katelyn Christensen had four points, while Noxon’s junior guard Emily Brown matched that as the Heat managed a one-point, 11-10 lead at the end of quarter number one.

Noxon then turned up the defensive pressure and scored several points on turnovers generated by that aggressive play to outscore the host team 16-4 in the second quarter. Brown and teammates Jadeyn Murray and Vanessa Horner all scored four points in the second stanza to help the Lady Red Devils pull away to a 26-15 halftime lead.

In the third quarter, Brown had six more points, including 4-4 from the free throw line as Hot Springs and Christensen began to shake off a poor shooting night.

The 5-10 Christensen dialed in two long threes and scored a total of 12 points during the fourth quarter as the Lady Heat battled back to within two points, 48-46 with just five seconds to play and Noxon with the ball.

However, Noxon was called for traveling The ball was in-bounded by the Savage Heat and wound up in Christensen’s hand near mid-court. She heaved a last second shot toward the basket to win the game but the ball fell just wide of its target as the game came to an end.

Christensen ended up the game’s leading scorer with 20 points, while teammate Josie Uski chipped in 10.

Brown paced Noxon with 16 points and Murray added nine for the Lady Red Devils, who were playing their only game of the week.

Noxon returns to action this Tuesday with boys and girls games against Troy, in Noxon. They then travel to Arlee Thursday for a pair of games and finish their week Saturday with a home game against Superior.

Hot Springs’ girls, meanwhile, stayed at home Saturday night to take on the Seeley Lady Blackhawks, who routed the home team 65-22.

In that game, the Savage Heat were outgunned from the start, falling behind 18-5 at the end of the first quarter and 35-11 at halftime.

The taller, quicker visitors kept up the pressure in quarter number three, outscoring Hot Springs 16-7 to grab a commanding 51-18 lead with eight minutes to play.

The loss dropped the Lady Savage Heat to 0-4 on the year.

Like their boys counterparts, the Hot Springs girls have just one game left before the winter break, a home game this Friday against also winless Two Eagle River.