HHS boys host Rangers, Panthers

After a solid 1-1 start to the season on the road, the Havre High boys basketball team turns its attention to conference play.

After two nonconference games last weekend, the Central A Blue Ponies are ready to take on a pair of conference rivals this weekend, in what is Havre’s home-opener.

The Ponies will make their home debut tonight when they host the Livingston Rangers at 5. The Ponies will remain at home Saturday afternoon, welcoming the Belgrade Panthers in at 2 p.m. Both conference matchups will take place at the Havre High gymnasium in Havre.

Havre head coach Curt Leeds is putting a lot of emphasis on his team’s defense this weekend. The offensive strategy should remain close to the same all season, but the defense will have to handle two very different offensive attacks this weekend.

The Rangers lost All-State standout Marcus Payne to graduation, but still house a very big team. The roster is littered with athletes with 6-3, 6-4, 6-5, and even 6-11 size. And with the ability to get the ball inside, the Rangers will look to lean on the scoring of Nick Bragg, Garrett Schweigert, and Chris Emter, all with double digit scoring ability.

Belgrade is on the opposite end of the spectrum, but the Ponies will still have to find a way to slow things down. The Panthers are very fast and athletic. They like to push the tempo, get out and run, and score in transition. The Panthers seemingly always house talented shooters from the perimeter, and do that again this year with the likes of Trevor Mahn and Kody Ruff. Ethan Turner, Shiloh Christopher and Baxter Roys adding depth to the scoring attack.

“Livingston still has that size coming back,” Leeds said. “I don’t think they are going to be as good as Marcus Payne, but it is still good size.

“Offensively I think we will be fine over the two games,” Leeds added. “We aren’t looking at much of a change. But defensively we will look to pressure and force turnovers against Livingston. And against Belgrade, we can’t let them use their athleticism to get good looks at the basket, we have to make them put the ball on the floor and look for shots inside the key instead of wide open three-pointers. Our defense will be the same in the sense that we are looking to press both teams, but Livingston we need those turnovers, and against Belgrade we need to limit their three’s.”

Offensively the Ponies know what they do best, and that starts with an inside-out mentality.

The goal is to always work the ball inside to Kade Rismon and Jase Kato, hopefully opening things up for the guards on the outside or cutting to the basket. But so far this season, Dane Warp has had two standout games from more of a power forward position, while the rest of the offense has somewhat struggled behind him. Rismon and Kato need to get more involved inside, while a spark from Brian Smith, Nate Rismon, Jon Faber and Michael Bakke would ignite the HHS offensive attack.

“We have talked to the kids about being more aggressive,” Leeds said. “People are going to guard Dane harder and harder with each game, and that is going to open things up that much more for our other guys and they have to take advantage of that with aggressive play.”

The Ponies put up just 44 points in a win over Malta and 39 in a loss to CMR last week. If more of the Pony weapons can settle in this weekend, then the offensive production should increase and lead to more wins moving forward. But with a lot of pressure on the defense this time out, the Ponies will need solid play on both sides of the ball against two solid conference rivals.

Tonight, the Ponies will host Livingston at 5. And Saturday afternoon the Ponies will host Belgrade at 2 p.m. Both games will be played at the Havre High gymnasium, and are the last games until after Christmas break.