Blue Pony girls drops games to tough Bison and M-Ettes

Some outings, the Havre High girls basketball team looks poised to go on a great run through the regular season and into the postseason. But in other outings, like the two games they played this weekend, the Central A Blue Ponies find themselves fighting an uphill battle.

Coming out of the short break in action, the Ponies played two non-conference games. Friday, the Ponies were in Great Falls to take on the Class AA GFH Bison. The Bison defeated the Ponies 54-51. And Saturday, the Ponies returned to the Havre High gymnasium to take on the Class B Malta M-Ettes for the second time this season. The M-Ettes completed the season sweep by defeating the Ponies 53-37.

Saturday’s home loss was a little more frustrating for the head coach Dustin Kraske. The HHS offense couldn’t settle into a productive groove and gave the ball away too many times against a stout Malta man-to-man. The Ponies turned the ball over 16 times against Malta.

“We didn’t do what we were supposed to,” coach Kraske said, “and we probably had 50 turnovers this weekend. That isn’t too impressive, and we have to make some changes in what we are doing.”

Shooting wasn’t on the side of the Ponies either. As the game progressed the M-Ettes stretched the lead further and further. HHS was outscored in all but the third quarter, where both teams posted 13 points. And it seemed like even against a tough Havre zone defense, whatever the M-Ettes shot went down. Malta opened the first half by shooting 71 percent from the field, knocking down 10-of-14 shots. Havre opened the first half hitting just 4-of-17 and trailing 24-13.

The Blue Ponies did show signs of life at the end of the third period when Brandy Lambourne got to the hole two times for four quick points. Peyton Filius then hit a 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter and to narrow the deficit to 10 points. But the quick spark soon fizzled as the M-Ettes reeled off a 12-3 run to stretch the lead to 49-30. Malta outscored Havre 16-13 in the fourth to put the finishing touches on the Ponies.

“We did not compete as hard as we would have liked,” Kraske said. “I think the most difficult part was getting ourselves to push through the difficult times. Malta played well, and they put us in positions where we were having to play smarter than we wanted, and we weren’t quite there. Malta is a nice team, and don’t get me wrong, but we are better than we played against them, and I think we are all pretty frustrated about that.”

Sophia Stiles had a solid outing against the Ponies and led all scorers with 15 points. Filius led the Ponies and finished with 12 points, while Lambourne followed with eight. Morgan Mazurkiewicz and Tori Mazurkiewicz scored five each, and Haley Ohm finished with four.

On the road on Friday, the Ponies ran into a very athletic, and impressive Bison team. Turnovers haunted the Ponies Friday as well, and made it difficult for the Ponies to achieve a comeback win.

Great Falls led 33-32 heading into the fourth quarter, and the Ponies found themselves in striking distance most of the game, even after the Bison had an 8-0 run to start the fourth, extending the lead to 41-32. The Ponies bounced back with a 7-0 run of their own and trailed just 41-39 with 5:30 left to play. The Bison hit some big shots, including a trey by Liz Klinker who eventually finished with 13 big points. But in the final minutes a couple of costly turnovers and some big-time free throws kept the advantage on the Great Falls side. The Ponies finished with 23 turnovers.

Havre was led by Morgan Mazurkiewicz with 14 points, and Lambourne kicked in another 10. Filius finished with nine points, and Tori Mazurkiewicz and Ohm scored six points each.

“They (Bison) played really well and we turned the ball over way too much,” Kraske said, “and they took advantage of that. When we were five-on-five against them defensively, we were really good, but when we put ourselves in position where we were odd-balled with four on three, or three on two, they took advantage of that too. But our kids, to their credit were resilient, made runs, and battled back.”

The Ponies fell to 3-3 overall and have another tough weekend ahead of them. Friday Havre will face Class B Conrad on the road and Saturday the Ponies will host Lewistown in conference action.

Great Falls High 54, Havre 51

Havre 8 15 9 19 – 51

Great Falls 8 15 10 21 – 54

Havre – Breck Don 0 2-2 2, Brandy Lambourne 0 9-10, Dani Wagner 1-1 0-0 2, Morgan Mazurkiewicz 4 3-3 14, Lacey Waid 1 1-2 3, Peyton Filius 3 3-3 9, Tori Mazurkiewicz 3 0-0 6, Haley Ohm 3 0-0 6. Totals: 15 18-20.

Great Falls – Liz Klinker 4 4-4 13, Brooke Dart 1 0-0 3, Nora Klick 2 0-1 4, Mercedes Bourgeau 1 6-8 8, Lyndee Feisthamel 2 0-0 4, Mikaela Kynett 0 2-4 2, Markaela Francis 5 1-4 12, Taylor Kumm 2 0-2 6, Natalie Klinker 1 0-1 2. Totals: 18 13-24.

Malta 53, Havre 37

Malta 10 14 13 16 - 53

Havre 6 7 11 13 - 37

Malta – Marley Manowkian 2, Sophia Stiles 15, Markelle Lett 2, Hailey Nicholson 12, Mercedes Stiles 8, Kelsey Kuhn 2, Rebecca Smith 3, Darby Schye 9. Totals: 23 5-14.

Havre – Breck Don 2, Brandy Lambourne 8, Morgan Mazurkiewicz 5, Lacey Waid 1, Peyton Filius 12, Tori Mazurkiewicz 5, Haley Ohm 4. Totals: 12 9-15.

Total fouls – Malta 15, Havre 14. Fouled out – Waid. Three pointers – M. Stiles 1, Smith 1, M. Mazurkiewicz 1, Filius 2, T. Mazurkiewicz 1.