BOX ELDER - The Hot Springs Bison used a 19-5 burst, spanning the first quarter of their game with the Douglas Patriots on Friday night at Whitehead Auditorium, en route to a 52-36 Black Hills Conference win.

The victory was the first of the year for the Bison (1-3 overall and 1-2 in the BHC).

"This is a good win for us," Hot Springs head coach Kim Henningsen said.

"They beat us twice last year so for us to get them this year was nice. I always like coming up here for a game, but it's definitely better when you can get a win out of it."

The Bison got a strong first quarter from point guard Eamin Entwisle - three points and four assists - to jump out to the early lead.

"Eamin's been playing like a senior for us all year," Henningsen said. "He doesn't want to lose and he plays like it. We're only going to go as far as he takes us."

The Patriots (0-4, 0-2) were looking for their first win of the season as well, but the difference in the two teams seemed to boil down to the fact that Entwisle and Jay Miles - both seniors - were able to take control of the game at times while the Patriots just didn't have a calming influence on the floor.

"I thought their two guards, (Pete) Melendez and (Nate Koch) were two pretty good guards," Henningsen said. "They did a nice job of penetrating on us. That's something that we're definitely going to have to work on."

While the Bison routinely fell back on the senior leadership of Entwisle and Miles, the Patriots still seem to be searching for similar leadership. There were a couple of moments - particularly late in the second quarter - where Douglas looked to have a chance to get back into the game, but the Patriots just couldn't seem to shake the turnover bug for long enough to get back into it.

Miles led the Bison with 13 points on the night while Jesse Monfore added 10. They were the only two players in the game to crack double figures in scoring.

Koch and Melendez each had seven points to lead the Patriots.

Hot Springs heads home to take on Belle Fourche in another BHC game tonight. Henningsen hopes that his team can carry some of the momentum from its first win of the year into tonight's game.

"It's always nice to get a win," Henningsen said. "We just want to try to build on this and come out and play as hard as we did tonight tomorrow night."

Things don't get any easier for the Patriots as they will turn right around and host the two-time defending Class A champion St. Thomas More Cavaliers at Whitehead tonight at 7 p.m.