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Ponies bust the Broncs

Havre throttles Frenchtown, gets a shot at Laurel in Class A semifinals tonight

GREAT FALLS — Opening games of a state basketball tournament aren’t supposed to be easy. But the veteran Havre High girls basketball team sure made it look that way Thursday night in Great Falls.

Facing the high-scoring Frenchtown Broncs in the first round of the 2014 Class A state tournament Thursday night at the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls, the Blue Ponies used a stifling defensive effort, a stellar performance from the foul line and two big first-half runs to earn a dominating 60-41 win. The victory over Frenchtown pushed Havre (15-6) into tonight’s semifinals where the Ponies face defending Class A champion Laurel for a spot in Saturday night’s state championship game.

“It feels really, really good. It’s really exciting,” HHS senior Lacey Waid said of the Ponies’ second straight first-round victory. “We had a few ups and downs tonight, but for the most part we pulled through and played really well.”

The Ponies did play well, especially on the defensive end where they held the offensive-minded Broncs to just 26 percent shooting and one 3-pointer. Havre’s swarming man defense also forced the Broncs into 18 turnovers.

“That’s pretty much who we want to be,” Pony head coach Dustin Kraske said. “In every game, our goal is to play well defensively, and tonight, boy, the kids sure played fantastic defense.

“Frenchtown is a very good team, with very good players,” he added. “But I just think we worked really hard defensively. We communicated well, we helped, we were focused with our assignments, and when we play defense like we did tonight, things usually go pretty well for us. So I’m really proud of how hard we played and how well we played on that end.”

Defensively, Havre was brilliant, but the Ponies weren’t too shabby on offense either. And it started right away.

A fast-break layup by senior Haley Ohm sparked an 8-0 first-quarter run for HHS, and while a Kayla Blood 3-pointer stopped the run, the Ponies took a 14-11 lead at the end of the first period as sophomore Dani Wagner scored two buckets at the end of the quarter.

While the game was tight for a moment, Havre’s path to the semis was paved by an even more dominant second stanza.

Morgan Mazurkiewicz started a 14-0 Havre run with a quick deuce. And Havre’s defense did the work from there. During the run, HHS got three scores off steals, two by Brandy Lambourne and another by Waid, and by the time the barrage ended, the Ponies led 30-12. Frenchtown did make some free throws late in the period, but the Pony defense held the Broncs to just one field goal over the second eight minutes and Havre took a commanding 35-22 lead into intermission.

“I was pleased with the way we played on offense,” Kraske said. “We did a nice job of attacking the basket, and we did a great job of shooting free throws. But our defense keyed a lot of that. We played so hard on that end, that eventually it led to some easy baskets and it also caused Frenchtown to have to work really hard on offense and that helped us on the offensive end.”

The Broncs tried to make a game of it, getting a couple of Vanessa Stavish baskets early in the third quarter. But it was too little too late, and when Peyton Filius buried a three as the third-quarter buzzer went off, Havre led 47-28. And while Filius’ shot wowed the partisan HHS crowd, it was again the Pony defense which made the difference as they held the Broncs to just six points in the third.

On the flip side, Frenchtown had too much trouble stopping the Ponies, in particular Lambourne, who, playing in her third straight state tourney, scored a game-high 21 points and went a sparkling 11-of-12 from the charity stripe. Filius added two threes and scored 12 points, while Waid chipped in with six. Wagner scored six points and also led the Ponies with eight rebounds.

As a team, the Ponies shot 56 percent from the floor and went an outstanding 28-of-33 from the foul line. HHS also out-rebounded the physical Broncs 32-21 and held Stavish, the Broncs’ star scorer to just 4-of-16 shooting and 15 points.

It was a complete performance by a veteran Blue Pony team, and that performance propels the Ponies into a semifinal rematch with the Locomotives, and that’s something Lambourne and the rest of the team is looking forward to. Laurel, which beat Anaconda 52-38 Thursday night, beat the Ponies in last year’s state tournament on the way to winning it all. Now, Havre gets its chance to rewrite the story.

“We didn’t have any nerves tonight,” Lambourne said. “And it showed because we played good. And we won’t be nervous tomorrow night. We’re all really excited to get to play Laurel again. They beat us last year so we’re excited to play them again.

“Very pleased with the way we played tonight,” Kraske added. “And this puts us in a unique position. It will almost be a year to the day that we played Laurel in the semifinals and now they get a chance to play them again.

“We will have our hands full,” he continued. “Laurel is a very good team. They are well coached and have some really nice players. But our thoughts will be the same going into that game. We just want to come out and play very hard and play well on the defensive end. That’s our goal every time we play.”

Havre and Laurel (17-4) will tip off in tonight’s second semifinal at 8 in the Four Seasons Arena. In Thursday’s other opening games, Columbia Falls bested Belgrade 70-29 and Hamilton beat Miles City 46-42. Columbia Falls and Hamilton meet in tonight’s first semifinal at 6:30.

Havre 60, Frenchtown 41

Havre 14 21 12 13 -- 60

Frenchtown 11 11 6 13 -- 41

Havre -- Breck Don 0-1 2-2 2, Brandy Lambourne 5-10 11-12 21, Dani Wagner 2-4 2-2 6, Morgan Mazurkiewicz 1-4 2-4 4, Naomi Terry 0-1 0-0 0, Lacey Waid 3-4 2-4 8, Peyton Filius 2-9 8-13 12, Tori Mazurkiewicz 1-1 1-2 3, Haley Ohm 2-2 0-0 4. Totals: 16-36 28-39 60.

Frenchtown -- Emma Pyron 0-1 0-0 0, Haley Cyr 1-3 0-0 2, Vanessa Stavish 4-16 7-12 15, Kayla Blood 2-9 2-3 7, Alli Moe 0-1 0-0 0, Brooke Yarnall 0-3 2-4 2, Krista Hebnes 0-0 1-2 1, Keegan Wickman 1-3 6-6 8, Lacey Hochhalter 3-9 0-0 6, Laci Willett 0-2 0-2 0. Totals: 11-47 18-29 41.

Total fouls -- HAVRE 21, FRE 29. Fouled out -- Blood. 3-point goals -- Havre 0-3, FRE 1-8 (Blood). Rebounds -- HAVRE 32 (Wagner 8), FRE 31(Stavish 8). Assists -- HAVRE 11 (Filius 4), FRE 8 (Blood 3). Turnovers -- Havre 17, FRE 18.

 

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