They’ve played just three games in the whacky Covid schedule-altering 2021 season, but after two conference encounters, the Hot Springs Savage Heat find themselves atop the Western 14-C Montana boys high school basketball league.

After beating early season co-favorite St. Regis 67-64 on the road two weeks ago, the boys improved to 2-0 in conference play with an equally hard-fought win over visiting Charlo, 55-52.

The Lady Savage Heat, meanwhile, continued to struggle to find depth as they fell to girls 14-C leader Charlo 60-25, also Friday night in Hot Springs.

The Hot Springs boys’ win moved them atop the conference as the league’s only unbeaten team in the early going of the always competitive 14C race.

In downing the Vikings, the Savage Heat built an early lead, then held off a determined Charlo comeback bid that came down to the final minutes of the game.

Hot Springs had taken a 19-11 first quarter lead against the Vikings behind the always gritty play of juniors Kyle Lawson and Jack McAllister. They then outscored Charlo 13-5 in the second quarter on their way to a comfortable 32-16 halftime advantage.

However, Charlo came out strong in the second half of play, led by their top two scorers so far this season, Roper Edwards and Phil Marquez. The won the third quarter 12-8 to shave four points on the Savage Heat’s halftime lead, then put together a 24-15 rally in the final eight minutes of play but it was not enough to surmount their earlier deficit.

The Savage heat got 17 points from McAllister, the cowboy-tough junior forward, and 12 points from Lawson on the night to help them hold off the hard-charging Vikings.

Hot Springs also got 14 points from junior Mario Garcia, who has shown great potential in the early games and given the Savage Heat extra scoring and rebounding.

Charlo’s Edwards matched McAllister’s 17 points to tie for game-high honors, while Marquez chipped in 16 points for the Vikings.

The Savage Heat’s 2-0 conference mark gives them a slim lead over Clark Fork (Superior/Alberton), which has a 4-1 conference record. The two teams were scheduled to play Jan. 7, but the game was cancelled due to virus concerns at Hot Springs.

That sets up what could be a battle for the top as the two teams are scheduled to face each other Jan. 28 in a game to be played in Alberton.

The Hot Springs girls, meanwhile, continued to try to find their rhythm and depth in the lopsided loss to Charlo’s Lady Vikings. Last season the two schools collided three times, with Charlo winning all three tightly contested games.

Lady Vikings standout forward Connor Fryberger helped the visitors take command early in their game with the Lady Savage Heat. Charlo raced to a 12-5 first quarter lead, then used their tight defense to shut off the Hot Springs offense on their way to a dominating 8-1 second quarter advantage.

At the half, Charlo held a 20-6 lead. Things got worse for Hot Springs in the third quarter.

With Fryberger and company running up and down the court, the Lady Vikings put this one away with a 24-5 third quarter scoring advantage that gave them a commanding 44-11 lead with eight minutes to play.

Hot Springs fought back gamely in the final quarter, but could not chip anything off the Lady Vikings lead.

Fryberger had a game-high 16 points to lead Charlo, while Kassidi Cox added 10 for the Lady Vikings, who had eight players in the scoring column.

Senior post Lizzy Fisher paced Hot Springs with 13 points, while junior standout Katelyn Christensen added 10.

The loss dropped the Lady Savage Heat to 0-4 overall and 0-3 in 14C conference play.

The Lady Heat travel to Plains this Thursday before returning home for a game against Noxon the following evening.