For basketball purists, the clash Saturday night between the Hot Springs Lady Heat and the Arlee Scarlets in a key regional girls basketball game was as good as it gets.

Especially for Hot Springs.

The two teams waged an intense struggle that ultimately ended in a 44-43 win for the home-standing Lady Heat, albeit not without a dash of controversy as the final horn sounded.

When the smoke from the skirmish had cleared, one thing was certain: Hot Springs sophomore Kara Christensen is one of the best, if not the best, girls’ basketball players in this neck of the woods.

And Hot Springs is going to be a factor in this year’s Class C competition.

Christensen poured in a game high 30 points for the Heat, who improved their season mark to 3-0 with the win. The loss dropped the Class B Scarlets to 1-2 on the year.

Christensen achieved a double-double for the night, adding 11 rebounds to her contributions.

But for both teams, what doesn’t show up in the box score is defensive intensity and grit, a couple of commodities Christensen has in abundance.

That intensity on the part of both teams led to a foul-filled evening, with Arlee losing two players to the five-foul limit, including their own standout sophomore Porter Pier, who was forced to sit out most of the middle part of the game when she was assessed with her fourth foul with 3:11 left in the second quarter.

Hot Springs jumped out to a hard-fought 17-12 lead after the first quarter of play, as Christensen erupted for 11 points in the opening eight minutes of play. Pier, who was matched defensively with Christensen most of her time on the court, had five first quarter points.

Arlee then staged a rally in the second quarter, outscoring Hot Springs 15-10 to tie the game at halftime, 27-all. Christensen had eight of her team’s 10 points in the second quarter.

The 5-9 Hot Springs guard put the Lady Heat back in front with 10 third quarter points that led to a 41-35 lead with one quarter of regulation to play.

Pier fouled out on an offensive charge in the fourth quarter, while Hot Springs maintained a razor thin three-point lead until the final minutes of play. Leading 42-39 with 32 seconds to play, Christensen was fouled and sank one of two free throws, giving the Heat a 43-39 lead.

Arlee then sank a three-pointer with 3.3 seconds to go, pulling them within one point of the lead.

A turnover gave the ball back to the Scarlets, who heaved a last ditch shot from well beyond the three point line. The shot fell short and time ticked away to the final score.

In those last three seconds, Arlee coach Russ Coleman tried to get a timeout, but was unsuccessful in getting the refs attention as the clock ticked to zero.

The win set up a key match this Tuesday evening (Dec 12) between the Lady Heat and the 3-1 Plains Trotters in Plains.

Hot Springs senior post Lauryn Aldridge scored eight points for the Lady Heat, while sophomore guard Callie Cano added five.

Junior Leah Mesteth topped Arlee scoring with 12 points, while Pier finished with 11.

Hot Springs continues it’s three-game week before the Christmas break with a pair of road games after the Plains game. The Lady Heat travel to St. Regis Thursday (Dec 14), then finish the year with a long road trip to Troy Saturday afternoon.

    Hot Springs head coach Richard Jackson (glasses) goes over strategy with the Lady Heat during a timeout of their game versus Arlee Saturday evening in Hot Springs. (Chuck Bandel/VP-MI)