HHS boys home to face CMR Rustlers Saturday night

As the Havre High boys basketball team continues to bounce in and out of conference and nonconference play, wins have been relatively hard to come by on a consistent basis.

But with two more nonleague games slated for this weekend, the Central A Blue Ponies know they can still use this time to add to their bag of tricks and get better.

Tonight the Ponies are in Great Falls to take on the Class AA Great Falls High Bison at 7. Saturday the Ponies will host the Class AA CMR Rustlers at the Havre High Gymnasium at 5 p.m. The third-place Ponies are currently 3-3 in conference play and 5-7 overall. The Rustlers are in the middle of the road with a 5-6 record overall, while the Bison aren't too far off with a 6-5 record overall.

The Ponies struggled the first time they faced the two Great Falls teams. CMR defeated the Ponies 67-39 in December. And not too much later, GFH defeated the Ponies 62-47 in early January. But despite the previous losses, and three-game slide, the Ponies know that, if they play well, they can come out of this weekend better off and maybe even with a win or two against top notch Class AA opponents.

"We are looking forward to playing a couple more nonconference games," Havre High head coach Curt Leeds said. "We know we are playing two really good teams, and I think the boys are ready to go."

The HHS defense struggled against the Bison and Rustlers the first time around. Simply put, the Ponies gave up too many points and couldn't come up with the momentum-changing stops when they needed them. CMR's Jayse McLean, Dylan Halverson, and Andre Longhorne, and the Bison's Bryce Clark, Lukas Vining and Brendan Howard will be tough to stop once again.

The Bison and Rustlers can score in bunches and it is going to take two impressive outings by the HHS defense if the Ponies hope to play competitively or even grab a win in either game. So far, the Ponies are at the top of the league with their 54 points allowed per game. That number would give the Ponies a shot at wins this weekend, but the Ponies are also averaging just 52 points per game themselves.

"A win or two against two good Class AA teams would give us a lot of confidence," Leeds said. "We know Great Falls High has put up a lot of points this year, and we are one of the few teams that held them to one of their lowest totals. Same with CMR, so we are ready to get after both of these teams defensively, but also see if we can better run our offense and get our own scoring up a bit."

Outside of Dane Warp and Kade Rismon, the offense has been less than consistent at times. But if the Ponies run into the defenses they think they might see from CMR and GFH this weekend, it might also better prepare the Ponies for what they expect to see at the divisional tournament. Havre could run into a box-and-one defense this weekend, an attempt to take Warp out of the mix. A triangle-and-two could also be used to eliminate both Warp and Kade Rismon from being factors. HHS can't let that happen as the two combine for nearly 36 of the Ponies' 52 points per game.

Dribble penetration is also something the Ponies will also look to run in both games this weekend. If run correctly coach Leeds thinks it will open everything up on the offensive end, including getting Jon Faber more touches and hopefully more points. That should also open things up for Nate Rismon and Brian Smith outside, as well as even Kade Rismon, Warp and Jase Kato inside.

"We are just trying to run things that better fit our personnel," Leeds said. "The sets we have ran have worked, but not to the full potential that we have hoped. We are hoping dribble drive looks will help get us more touches."

Tonight the Ponies are in Great Falls to take on the Class AA Great Falls High Bison at 7. Saturday the Ponies will host the Class AA CMR Rustlers at the Havre High Gymnasium 5 p.m.