HHS boys clobber Rangers

Four games into the season, the Havre High boys’ basketball team continues to fall in and out of the win column.

But in their 2-2 start, the Central A Blue Ponies continue to play well on both sides of the ball. A week ago, the Ponies may have just been outmatched by a talented Class AA CMR squad when they started 1-1, but over this weekend, the Ponies proved they could still push for a top spot in the conference one year removed from a rebuilding season.

Playing at the Havre High Gymnasium in Havre, the Ponies split their first two games of the conference schedule.

Friday, the Ponies defeated the Livingston Rangers 59-32. But Saturday, the Ponies let a game slip away as the Belgrade Panthers took down HHS 65-47. Havre is now 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the Central A.

Friday’s win over the Rangers was led by a promising showing by the HHS defense. The Ponies came out in a full-court press and mixed in a half-court zone for good measure. They didn’t give the Rangers anything easy, and the Ponies forced a team with 6-11 size to take 11 3-pointers and only make three. Livingston also committed 25 turnovers.

“Our zone really flustered them quite a bit,” Havre High head coach Curt Leeds said. “They don’t have the guards around them to really be able to break the press. They aren’t very fast, and I don’t think their skills are there to handle pressure, they rebound and get points in the paint, but we limited that too. We needed to play behind their big guys and force them to make post moves, but we shut that down and they took a lot of deeper shots.”

The result of the impressive defense was a solid showing by the HHS offense.

After leading just 12-11 after the first quarter, the Ponies ran away with the game through the second and third quarters. The Blue Ponies scored 16 in the second and 20 in the third, a time period where the Rangers totaled just 11. The final frame was more balanced, but the Ponies were able to get the bench quality minutes with a comfortable lead.

Dane Warp continues his standout play and led the Ponies with 28 points. Kade Rismon had 10 points down low for the Ponies, and Nate Rismon had five. Brian Smith and Michael Bakke each finished with four points, and Wyatt Lindbloom and Jase Kato combined for another four.

“Turnovers turned into easy points for us,” Leeds said. “We really attacked the paint off of drives, curl cuts and backdoor cuts.”

Belgrade simply proved to be more pumped up to play than the Ponies were Saturday afternoon. The Panthers were clearly more athletic than the Rangers, and dominated the offensive and defensive boards against the Ponies. The rebounds led to limited opportunities for the HHS offense and meant second-, and sometimes third- and fourth-chance scoring opportunities for the Panthers.

“We settled for outside shots too much,” Leeds said. “They weren’t beating us in the post, I thought (Warp, Kade Rismon, and Kato) did a good job down low, but we lost track of other guys around them. We helped too much down low in the post and that opened up lanes for their guys to really crash the boards and meant easy rebounds. Backside rebounds really hurt us.”

Havre fell behind early by eight points, and the Panthers maintained that eight-point lead at the half. An 18-point third quarter by the Panthers and a six-point fourth quarter by the Ponies helped result in the lopsided loss.

Warp grabbed 24 points as well as his fourth double-double of the season to lead the Pony efforts. Kato had nine and Kade Rismon finished with eight for the Ponies.

“We still need our kids to get aggressive like Dane is being,” Leeds said. “Dane is playing aggressive and getting to the free throw line.”

The 1-1 split to conference play proved the Ponies are still in contention, as young as they are. The next time the Ponies and Panthers meet, a better rebounding performance by the Ponies could result in tighter score, or even a win.

Entering the break the Ponies are 1-1 in league play and 2-2 overall. They return to action Jan. 3 at home against Great Falls and Jan. 4 at home against Malta.

Havre 59, Livingston 32

Livingston 11 4 7 10 - 32

Havre 12 16 20 11 - 59

Livingston – Nick Bragg 10, Garrett Schwegert 4, Colton Carter 2, Connor Amsk 3, S. Lay 3, Colton Gavne3, Chris Emter 4, Joey Overstreet 3. Totals: 12 4-14.

Havre – Nate Rismon 5, Jonathan Faber 4, Dane Warp 28, Brain Smith 4, Michael Bakke 4, Wyatt Lindbloom 2, Jase Kato 2, Kade Rimson 10. Totals: 23 10-17.

Total fouls – Livingston 19, Havre 11. Fouled out – Overstreet. Three pointers – Bragg 2, Overstreet 1, Nate Rimson 1, Dane Warp 2.

Belgrade 65, Havre 47

Belgrade 18 15 18 14 - 65

Havre 10 15 14 6 - 47

Belgrade – Trevor Mahn 17, Brayden Konkol 18, G. Stubbs 2, Koby Ruff 7, Shiloh Christopher 8, Baxter Roys 8. Totals: 22 13-14.

Havre – Nate Rismon 3, Dane Warp 24, Brian Smith 3, Jase Kato 9, Kade Rismon 8. Totals: 14 10-20.

Total fouls – BEL 15, Havre 16. 3-pointers – Mahn 3, Christopher 2, Nate Rismon, Dane Warp, Brian Smith.