Pony girls struggle with Central A foes

The ups and downs continued for the Havre High girls basketball team.

Over the weekend the Central A Blue Ponies faced off in two conference matchups. But in two very different games, the Ponies went 0-2. Friday the Ponies hosted the Lewistown Eagles, but lost 47-44 in overtime. And on Saturday the Ponies ran into a very tough Butte Central Maroons squad and lost 55-25.

On Friday night, the Ponies held the lead throughout most of the game. They did a lot of things right, especially defensively, but just couldn't get their offense rolling the way they needed.

"I am very pleased with how we played," Havre High head coach Dustin Kraske said. "The kids were very excited even with defeat because we felt like we played very well together and played with a lot of enthusiasm. Our effort and attitudes were incredible and it was near perfect in that regard. On the basketball side, with our shots and stuff, we will continue to get better."

HHS didn't get a whole lot of offense from outside, but Paighton Gilman kept Havre afloat going to work in the paint. In the first quarter Gilman had 10 of the Ponies' 13 points. And in the second quarter she added five more as the ponies held a small, 22-21 lead. She added seven more in the third and four in the fourth for a game-high 26 points.

"Gilman did a really nice job inside at the basket," Kraske said. "But as a team we had a lot of open looks and didn't knock them down."

Havre had just five field goals in the first, three in the second, three in the third and three in the fourth. And in the second quarter, the Ponies put up nearly 20 shots.

But while the Pony offense struggled to knock down shots, the Eagles began to chip away at the Ponies. In the fourth quarter Brook Rodgers led the Eagles with five points and helped outscore the Ponies 11-8 to push for an period of overtime. Once in overtime the Eagles outscored the Ponies 7-4. McCalle Feller, who had been solidly handled by Sammy Evans for most of the game came away with five points in overtime to lead the comeback win for Lewistown. Prior to overtime, Feller was held to just six points.

"Sammy," Kraske said. "The rest of the season is going to get the draw on the other teams best kid. That was her first start of the year and she handled it very well I thought."

On offense, Gilman's 26 points led the Ponies, while Peyton Filius added nine in the heartbreaking loss.

Saturday was a much tougher road for the Ponies, as they lost by 30 points to the Maroons in Butte.

"They are a nice team," Kraske said. "I thought we competed hard the first quarter and did a nice job, but we struggled again making shots outside. But give Butte Central credit too, because they did a nice job around Gilman at the basket and they played a zone and did a nice job with that."

HHS trailed 16-11 after the first quarter, but the Maroons outscored the Ponies 10-0 in the second to take a 26-11 lead into the lockerrooms at half. And in the second half, the Maroons outscored HHS 29-14.

Gilman led the Ponies with eight points and Filius added five. Jaclyn Evans and Brandy Lambourne also had three apiece.

The Ponies have slipped to 2-7 in league play, but have a short turnaround. Monday they will host the Malta M-Ettes at 6 p.m. at the Havre High gymnasium.

Lewistown 47, Havre 41 OT

Lewistown 5 16 8 11 7 — 47

Havre 13 9 10 8 4 — 44

Lewistown — Sierra Fox 13, Amanda Stenseth 6, Makenzie Guyer 4, Kelsey Phillips 2, Allie Adams 2, McCalle Feller 11, Brook Rodgers 9

Havre — Paighton Gilman 26, Christina Mack 2, Peyton Filius 9, Sammy Evans 3, Jaclyn Evans 4

Butte Central 55, Havre 25

Havre 11 0 4 10 — 25

Butte Central 16 10 11 18 — 55

Havre — Jaclyn Evans 3, Peyton Filius 5, Christina Mack 2, Paighton Gilman 8, Ashlynn Van Voast 2, Brandy Lambourne 3, Lacey Waid 2. Totals 8-32 8-16 25.

Butte Central — Kacie McKeon 3, Taylure Svejkovsky 4, Brynne Kambich 12, Lexie Murphy 17, Quinn Peoples 17, Alysea Pica 2. Totals 19-43 16-21 55.