Rustlers too much for Blue Ponies

Facing talented Class AA teams on the non-conference portion of the schedule is never easy for the Havre High boys basketball team. But if it causes the Central A Blue Ponies to continue to get better before the postseason, taking a couple of lumps is well worth it.

Saturday night, the Ponies took another loss at the hands of a Great Falls program. After losing on the road to Great Falls High Thursday, the Ponies returned home to face the CMR Rustlers at the Havre High gymnasium. It was the second meeting this season between the Ponies and Rustlers, and it was also a clean sweep for the Rustlers.

This time around the Rustlers defeated the Ponies 60-34.

“Overall I was happy,” Havre High head coach Curt Leeds said. “The boys competed hard, and with Great Falls High (Thursday), we played hard against two of the best teams we see all year.”

The final score shows the Ponies suffering a blowout loss, but through the first half, that wasn’t the story at all.

It wasn’t until the third quarter that the Rustlers were able to settle in offensively and run away, outscoring the Blue Ponies 22-9 in the frame and taking a daunting 46-25 lead.

Through the first two quarters, the HHS defense was as tough as it has been all year. But Havre’s offense was also tied up by the CMR defense and the Ponies were unable to take advantage of the stiff defensive efforts on the other end of the floor. CMR held a slim 12-10 lead after the first quarter and only a 24-16 lead at the half before unleashing in the second half for the 26-point victory.

“CMR is a very physical team to play against, but I was very pleased with how we played in the first half,” Leeds said. “To hold a team that good to 24 points was impressive. The boys communicated, and I thought, between Jase Kato, Kade Rismon, and Michael Bakke, our bottom two communicated very well. And our wings stayed in the passing lanes and kept the CMR passes from coming out crisp, we made it tough on them to get into any kind of rhythm.”

Havre held a 3-0 lead through the first three minutes of action after Kade Rismon converted a layup and foul shot opportunity. And the Rustlers didn’t even manage a shot attempt until the 5:37 mark. Jayse McLean was fouled on the attempt and went 1-of-1 from the free-throw-line to cut the Havre lead to 3-1. Havre allowed just 12 points in the first quarter and 12 more in the second, while also forcing four turnovers in the first quarter and four more in the second with an impressive zone defense that left the Rustlers struggling to find scoring opportunities.

But on the other end of the floor, the Ponies found it even harder to score themselves.

The defense kept the Ponies competitive though the first half, but Havre shot just 6-of-21 for their 16 points. HHS also committed five turnovers in the first 16 minutes. They handled the ball very well against a physical full court press, but the Ponies also found it difficult to work the ball inside or even past the 3-point arc. Kade Rismon scored four points in the first quarter in an attempt to get the offense going, but Havre totaled just six points in the second quarter as the CMR defense got stronger and stronger as the game progressed.

Coach Leeds installed a dribble-weave offense early in the week and ran that the majority of the game Saturday night. That led to a lot perimeter movement, but the Ponies needed to find a way to get the ball to the post. With the Rustler defenders constantly in the passing lanes and in the face of the HHS guards, that proved difficult.

“We aren’t going to play a team that physical the rest of the year,” Leeds said. “And I thought we did a pretty nice job against them, especially with our guys learning the dribble weave for the first time this week. Nobody else is going to be able to guard us like that, but the kids competed and eventually got inside the key. And our post players were wide open, but we weren’t getting them the ball. Jase (Kato) and Kade (Rismon) should have had a heyday today, but maybe now our guards can realize after watching film that they could have fed the ball inside. Once you get the post involved it is going to open things back up for the guards. But it’s a learning process.”

After intermission, the Rustlers found more ways to score. They made great adjustments, including overloading one side of the court to pick on the Havre wings, according to Leeds. That caused the Ponies to go away from their defensive game plan, including going away from the 1-2-2 defense that had been so strong to start the contest.

The result was CMR shooting 50 percent from the field in the second half and outscoring the Ponies 36-18. The Ponies shot just 34 percent from the field on Saturday and remained winless when allowing 60 points or more this season.

“Any zone can be attacked,” Leeds said. “And they found a way to do that. But they have a lot of coaching experience on their bench, so they found the weakness and were able to attack us.”

Kade Rismon finished the game with seven points, but the Ponies were led by Warp’s 13. Nate Rismon finished with four, Brian Smith finished with two, Michael Bakke finished with two, Nate Korb finished with three and Kato finished with three.

Havre (5-9) will face two more opponents this weekend. Friday the Ponies face Class B Fairfield on the road, and Saturday the Ponies host conference rival Lewistown at 5 p.m. Saturday is also senior night for the Blue Ponies.

CMR 60, Havre 34

CMR 12 12 22 14 - 60

Havre 10 6 9 9 - 34

CMR – K. Tucker 2 0-0 4, D. Williams 3 0-0 7, J. McLean 6 2-3 17, D. Carter 2 0-0 5, J. Simmons 1 0-0 2, G. Kuntz 1 0-0 2, A. Grinde 2 0-0 6, D. Halverson 2 0-0 5, A. Longhorne 4 0-0 9, E. Dawson 1 2-2 4, Z. Johnson 0 0-2 0, J. Wanner 1 0-0 2. Totals: 25 4-7.

Havre – Nate Rismon 1 2-2 4, Dane Warp 5 3-8 13, Brian Smith 1 0-0 2, Michael Bakke 1 0-0 2, Nate Korb 1 0-0 3, Jase Kato 1 1-2 3, Kade Rismon 3 1-1 7. Totals: 13 7-13.

Total fouls – CMR 14, Havre 7. Technical foul – Tucker. 3-pointers – Williams, Carter, Grinde 2, Halverson, Longhorne, Korb.