Back-to-Back: Pony boys sweep

Certainly, the Havre High boys basketball team felt a win over the Conrad Cowboys Friday night was of the utmost importance, especially coming off a tough sweep at home last weekend.

And though the Blue Ponies got all they could handle from the Cowboys for much of the contest, a win was exactly what they got.

Havre started what would become a weekend sweep, beating the Class B Cowboys 51-39 Friday night at the HHS gymnasium. The Ponies would go on to knock off Central A rival Lewistown Saturday night 55-49 in Lewistown. And with the weekend sweep, the Ponies are now 4-4 overall and 2-1 in the Central A standings.

Friday night's contest was one of momentum swings, and the last big run belonged to the Blue Ponies. HHS entered the fourth quarter clinging to a 35-34 lead, then quickly fell behind the Cowboys 37-35 as Shane Larson buried a 3-pointer to start the final stanza.

However, HHS had the answer. Eight points between Dane Warp and Kade Rismon gave HHS a 43-39 lead with 4:10 left. And from there, Conrad wouldn't score again. In all, HHS finished the game on a 12-0 run.

“Conrad was a good win for us, they have some good scorers,” Havre High head coach Curt Leeds said. “We got a little bit better with our defense, we have some stuff to keep working on but, overall, it was a really good game for our boys.”

But as strong as the Ponies finished, Conrad started the same way. Conrad hit three 3-pointers and finished the first quarter on a 9-2 run to lead 15-11. But momentum quickly changed. Nate Rismon and Brian Smith each knocked in triples as part of a 12-2 Blue Pony run, which ultimately led to Havre leading 28-21 at halftime.

In the third quarter, it was Conrad's turn to seize control. The Cowboys went on an 11-2 run, and only a Warp layup in the final minute of the period kept Havre in front with only the fourth quarter left to play, a quarter the Blue Ponies would own.

“We put ourselves in a little predicament at the beginning of the third quarter,” Leeds said. “But the kids put their heads on and really got after it in the fourth quarter. We executed our defense very well in that quarter. And when we were able to stop them, that turned into easy buckets for us. It is easier to score in transition than it is to score after a made basket.”

    Warp finished the game with yet another double-double, scoring a season-high 29 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Kade Rismon added 10 points, and Nate Rismon and Smith combined for another 10, while the HHS defense forced the Cowboys into 21 turnovers on the night.

“We were really working hard this last week in practice,” Kade Rismon said. “Especially on our defense because that is what has killed us recently. We worked a lot on that, and that was big because in the second quarter we only allowed six points. I think that work paid off because we really worked on our zone and blocking out. We were giving up too many rebounds, so we knew we had to fix that.”

Both wins were big for the Ponies, but taking down a conference rival on the road with solid defense and a balanced offensive attack was a big step for the team.

And it took another big fourth quarter for the Ponies to earn that win. The halftime deficit at Lewistown was at three points, but the Ponies cut it to a two-point deficit after three frames were in the books. The Ponies posted 16 in the third, and got the offense rolling just in time. After a back-and-forth game, the Ponies outscored the Eagles 18-10 in the fourth quarter, enough to get out in front and earn their second win in two days.

“We needed another big fourth quarter to get that win,” Leeds said. “We buckled down defensively again, and that gave us some open looks offensively. We also had some kids really step up and knock some shots down.”

Warp has been the leader on offense all season, but got plenty of help on Saturday. Warp finished with 15 points, his lowest total of the year, but did so against a defense that put all of the focus and pressure almost squarely on him. But five other Ponies also found a way to score. Kade Rismon added his 13 points to the mix, while Nate Rismon finished with 11. Jase Kato scored seven, Smith scored five, and Michael Bakke scored four to wrap the offensive efforts.

“We always want that balance,” Leeds said. “It is good to see a lot of kids putting points in the score book. But it helped out playing down there because they face guarded Dane (Warp) the whole game, and that really opened up other players. They took advantage and knocked down shots. But it was good to see Dane still get 15 with Lewistown face guarding him the whole time.”

The Eagles’ Logan Wilcox and Dylan Stenseth have both averaged more than 14-points per game this season, but were held to a combined 17-points by the HHS defense.

Defensively, the ponies played well all weekend long, a positive sight after putting a lot of emphasis on the improvement of the HHS defense after a rough couple of games prior to the weekend.

“It is getting better. It isn’t perfect, but it is getting closer,” Leeds said. “We are starting to understand our responsibilities a lot more, and we just need to realize that getting defensive stops on our end leads to easier buckets for us because it doesn’t allow the other team to set up their defense on their end.”

Riding a nice weekend, the Ponies will have to gear up for two more tough opponents. Friday the Ponies will host Browning in conference play, and Saturday the Ponies will host Class B Rocky Boy, both games at the Havre High Gymnasium in Havre.

Note: Havre Daily News Sports Editor George Ferguson contributed to this story.

Havre 51, Conrad 39

Conrad 15 6 13 5 - 39

Havre 11 17 7 16 - 51

Conrad – B. Underdahl 3, J. Grubb 2, S. Larson 13, T. Diedrich 7, M. Missik 4, K. Murack 10. Totals: 16 3-7.

Havre – Nate Rismon 5, Dane Warp 29, Brian Smith 5, Jase Kato 2, Kade Rismon 10. Totals: 21 5-13.

Total fouls – Conrad 9, Havre 12. Fouled out – None. Three pointers – Larson 1, Murack 2, N. Rismon 1, Warp 2, Smith 1.

Havre 55, Lewistown 49

Havre 12 9 16 18 - 55

Lewistown 8 16 15 10 – 49

Havre – Nate Rismon 11, Dane Warp 15, Brian Smith 5, Michael Bakke 4, Jase Kato 7, Kade Rismon 13. Totals: 22 7-14.

Lewistown – James Derheim 9, Tre Bradley 3, Lane Smith 8, Morgan Ray 4, Logan Wilcox 11, Dylan Stenseth 6, Jesse Perry 8. Totals: 22 2-6.