A last-second buzzer-beater in Hot Springs and an overtime loss in Darby added up to two tough road defeats for the Plains Horsemen in non-conference basketball action last week.

Now 0-8 overall, coach Tyrel Allen and his Horsemen open District 7B conference play hosting Thompson Falls Thursday and play another non-conference game at Seeley-Swan Friday.

“Thompson Falls is kind of like us, young and pretty inexperienced,” Allen said. “This should be an interesting game heading into conference play, to see where we match up.”

The Horsemen matched up pretty well against Superior last week and held the lead most of the second half before Superior junior Gannon Quinlan swished a 15-footer from the left wing at the buzzer to give the Bobcats the hard-earned 52-50 win.

In Darby Friday, the Horsemen again led late before the Tigers rallied to force overtime and won the extra period 9-7 to steal the 48-46 victory.

“We made a few untimely mistakes at the end and it cost us in Darby,” Allen said. “We outplayed them but lost the turnover battle, could have easily won that game.”

Cooper Meredith led the Horsemen in Darby with 12 points and eight rebounds, while Hot Springs junior Ben Aldridge, in his first action of the season last week, led Plains on the boards collecting nine rebounds, besides scoring four points.

Jarrett Weeks added five points for Plains in Darby, Kylan Bostick four, Jackson Revier and Jeff Siebert three apiece, and Chase DePoe and Eddie Siebert two each.

J. Browning scored for a game-high 25 points for Darby, which is now coached by former Plains coach Richard Griffin, and L. Nelson added 15.

In the game at Hot Springs with Superior, Meredith led the Horsemen with 15 points, Weeks scored 10, Jeff Siebert nine, Aldridge eight, and Tristan Allen, DePoe and Revier two apiece.

Please see other story for Superior scoring.