Ice Hawks play well at state tournament

The Havre Ice Hawks high school hockey team may have entered the state tournament as a sixth seed, but they were there to play for a championship.

And though the Ice Hawks didn't advance to the placement round on Sunday, they gave three teams a run for their money, including earning a solid win, and finishing the weekend 1-2.

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, the Ice Hawks were in Bozeman for the high school hockey state tournament. They took on No. 4 Billings and No. 8 Butte/Miles City on Friday, and then faced No. 1 Helena on Saturday. The Ice Hawks lost 4-2 to Billings, but defeated Butte/Miles City 9-4. On Saturday, the Ice Hawks couldn't keep the momentum rolling, losing 7-2 to Helena.

Losing 4-2 to the Billings Bulls, the Ice Hawks were down just one goal until 53 seconds left in the third period. But even behind a strong outing by goalie Josh Emge, Havre came up just short. Emge had 45 saves, while Kyle Konesky and Dustin Armstrong sparked the offense with one goal each. Konesky scored on an assist from Alex Hanson, while Armstrong scored on assists from Roxanna Jensen and Brandon Huntington.

On Friday evening, the Ice Hawks were able to bounce back and earn a very good win.

Emge had another great outing, this time saving 17 goals on 21 shots. And on offense, the Ice Hawks fired 43 shots on the Butte goalie. Trevor Jensen scored an unassisted power play goal, while Dustin Armstrong was assisted by Trevor Jensen. Trever Jensen scored a goal of his own, assisted by Justin Miller, While Jon Stoner scored two goals, one assist from Dustin Armstrong, and one assist from Roxanna Jensen. Nick Howell scored from an Dustin Armstrong assist, while Konesky scored on a Ned Malone assist, Brandon Huntington scored on a Caleb McLain assist, and Miler scored on a Malone assist.

Saturday brought another tough loss for the Ice Hawks.

This time the top seeded Big Horns limited the Havre scorers to just two goals on 12 shots on the net. Huntington scored on an unassisted short-handed goal, and Hanson scored on an assist from Miller. Emge also had 38 saves on 45 shots.

The Havre Ice Hawks had solid season and capped things off with a great state tournament run. They came up short in the title category, but played well overall, and put up a great fight against top tier teams.