Ponies outlast a leak, and the M-Ettes

Things don't always go according to plan in the sports world, so when a team escapes with a win, that is all that matters.

That might be the case for the Havre High girls basketball team. Monday night, the Central A Blue Ponies hosted the Class B Malta M

Havre's Morgan Mazurkiewicz, right, drives past a Malta defender during Monday night's girls basketball game at the Havre High gymnasium. Even with an hour delay at halftime, the Blue Ponies beat the M-Ettes 44-35.

-Ettes in a non-conference matchup. The Ponies came away with the 44-35 victory, but it didn't come before both teams were forced into an hour-long delay at the half and limped through a less than technically sound second half. A leak in the rook above the Havre High gym was the cause of the long intermission.

Before the half, the Ponies played very well. The tempo of the game was very fast, and the Ponies looked comfortable running the floor on offense and defense.

HHS's Neya Bischoff, left, battles for a shot during Monday night's girls game in Havre.

The HHS defense forced the M-Ettes into a lot of deep shots. Malta was playing from behind the entire 16 minutes, and couldn't seem to penetrate the Ponies' half court defense. HHS led 11-4 after the first quarter and 26-18 at the break. In that same time period, the M-Ettes threw up 10 three-pointers, but knocked down just two of the attempts. Their first trey didn't land until a minute into the second quarter when the Ponies maintained an 11-7 lead.

The offense also looked good for the Ponies, as they were able to knock down shots from behind the arc.

Tori Mazurkiewicz's late first quarter 3-pointer helped the Ponies to a seven-point lead, while HHS went on to knock down four more treys in the second quarter. Brandy Lambourne hit two three's in the frame, while Morgan Mazurkiewicz and Peyton Filius both hit a trey as well, as HHS held an eight-point lead at the break.

"I think that is just how we like to play," Havre High head coach Dustin Kraske said. "At that high tempo and getting up and down the floor. I think we still turned the ball over a little too much, but we are still trying to get better at that. But Malta is a great team defensively and some of that was because of how they play."

The Ponies had 10 turnovers in the first half.

The second half was a struggle for both teams. The hour-long wait due to a leaky roof didn't help matters any, but both teams struggled to get things going in the final two quarters of play.

Malta did close the gap to 35-31 after the third quarter, but the Ponies managed to get things rolling in just enough time to earn the win. After the chaotic third frame the Ponies outscored the M-Ettes 9-4 in fourth quarter.

"You could tell both teams were out of sync." Kraske said. "But our kids started to execute down the stretch, so it was fine. We played well when we had to."

Havre's Tori Mazurkiewicz, front, looks to put up a shot during Monday night's girls basketball game against Malta at the HHS gymnasium.

Filius and Lambourne each scored 11 points to lead the Ponies. Lacey Waid had a nice all-around game and finished with seven points. Tori Mazurkiewicz added five as HHS avenged its season-opening loss to the M-Ettes last month in Malta. The M-ettes, who suffered their first loss of the season, got 10 points by Courtney Henry.

The Ponies improved to 5-4 overall and remain 3-0 in the conference. And HHS will now prepare to host Belgrade on Friday and Livingston on Saturday. The Ponies will also host Browning on Monday in a makeup game.

Havre 44, Malta 35

Malta 4 14 13 4 — 35

Havre 11 15 9 9 — 44

Malta – Courtney Henry 10, Jayla Grahan 9, Darby Schye 6, Brenna King 2, Mercedes Stiles 4.

Havre – Tori Mazurkiewicz 6, Peyton Filius 11, Lacey Waid 7, Brandy Lambourne 11, Morgan Mzurkiewicz 5, Neya Bischoff 3.