It was a good night of small town basketball in Hot Springs Saturday night.

Not only was there really good chili for sale at the concession stand, there were two really good ball games for fans to savor.

The first game featured the boys team from Two Eagle River, perhaps unexpectedly in the thick of the Western 14C conference race and the young but promising Hot Springs Savage Heat.

The other game was a battle between two teams in need of a win, conference or otherwise, as the Lady Eagles squared off with the host Lady Savage Heat.

A full house of fans from both towns got was on hand to lend their support.

The boys went first and played a down-to-the-wire nail-biter of a game that saw the visiting Ealges escape with a 49-46 win as a last-second three-pointer by Savage Heat standout Garth Parker was short of its target.

In the second game of the double header, the host Lady Savage Heat out ran the Lady Eagles on their way to a 62-36 victory in a game that was, at least for the home town fans, a hopefully promising sign of good things to come.

In the opener, Parker, Hot Springs only senior, and 6-1 junior Quncy Style-Depoe went to work under the basket and helped the Savage Heat control the backboards and the scoreboards en route to a slim 11-9 first quarter lead.

The quick, athletic Eagles fought hard and stayed with the hosts thanks to their overall team speed, as they found themselves tied with Hot Springs 24-24 at halftime.

Two Eagle assumed the lead in the third quarter but could not pull away from the Heat as Parker and Styles-Depoe, along with timely scoring by members of the strong sophomore class, kept Hot Springs close.

Heading into the final quarter of play, Two Eagle, which a few weeks earlier handed league leader Charlo its only conference loss of the year, was up 35-30.

The fourth quarter was a fan-pleasing back and forth affair as neither team could pull away from the other.

In the end, Two Eagle had just enough to fight off several Hot Springs’ rallies. With the visitors holding a razor-thin three-point lead as the final second ticked off the clock, Parker got his hands on a loose ball and let a three-pointer fly, only to watch as it came up short of the basket.

The loss dropped the Savage Heat to 3-12 on the year and 2-10 in 14C play. The win lifted Two Eagle River to 8-3 in league play and 11-5 on the year.

The night cap was not a nail-biter by any means but it was a good sign for Hot Springs fans who have patiently waited for Hot Springs to turn itsbasketball season around. And with emerging underclassmen like Lauryn Aldridge and Kara Christensen showing signs of an up-and-coming team, the home crowd was loving every minute of what turned into a rout.

Hot Springs grabbed a quick 8-2 lead in the opening minutes of the first quarter and stretched it to a 19-9 advantage by the quarter’s end. Seniors Lily DeTienne and Jose Uski led the way, as the Lady Heat widened their lead to 36-23 as the first half came to a close.

The Heat then came out strong in the second half, outscoring the Lady Eagles 16-6 in the third quarter and built a relatively comfortable 52-29 lead with one quarter to play.

Hot Springs kept up the defensive pressure and out-pointed Two Eagle River 10-7 over the final eight minutes to secure the 26-point win.

The Lady Savage Heat had four players score in double figures, led by DeTienne’s 20 points. They also got 15 points from freshman guard Kara Christensen, 14 from Uski and 13 from Aldridge.

The win boosted the Lady Heat to 3-7 in 14C games and 4-9 overall. Two Eagle River’s ladies fell to 2-10 in the conference and 2-14 overall with the loss. Hot Springs closes out the regular season this week with a Friday road trip to Drummond, then a home game versus Troy Saturday night.