Daniel Horton Column: Watching a special group of Ponies was a treat

The best part about seeing a local high school team win a state championship is that the excitement doesn’t fade or get lost in the shuffle. No matter how many times the accomplishment is reached by Havre High teams, and by surrounding schools, it never gets old.

Just recently, I was somehow fortunate enough to watch the Blue Pony wrestling team win a Class A state title, the Box Elder Bears win a Class C boys state basketball title, and most recently, of course, the Blue Pony girls win a Class A state basketball title.

And being a part of the experience, I know I am a distant part, but being a part of the experience does not get old.

It's hard to see a team that I have watched grow for the last several years come up short at the state tournament. I've covered sports long enough to have that happen a time or two. You know how the saying goes ... you can't win them all.

But I didn’t have to go through that again this weekend in Great Falls when the Pony girls finished the season as the best team in the state.

And I know first-hand that this group of girls deserved this title, it wasn’t just a fluky weekend or an unseen hot streak. For many of the HHS seniors, it was four years of hard work, and literally, blood, sweat, and tears at the varsity level under head coach Dustin Kraske.

But I have been around this team long enough to know that each and every single girl who was suited up during Saturday night’s championship has put in the time necessary to be crowned best of the best.

Seniors Breck Don, Brandy Lambourne, Lacey Waid, Peyton Filius, and Haley Ohm deserved this opportunity, and they took full advantage. But juniors Morgan and Tori Mazurkiewicz have also been at the varsity level for three years, and they too have put in the countless hours it took to hold the No. 1 trophy over their heads. Dani Wagner also played a key part part in the historic run, as did Naomi Terry, Lindsey Kudrna, and Holly Purkett. I am not yet as familiar with some of the underclassmen, but if they learned anything from the veteran HHS girls, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were hoisting another trophy in the near future.

For me, as a close observer of the Ponies, it was just a fun and exciting time for me in Great Falls this weekend.

I enjoyed watching the once young and timid athletes like Lambourne grow into a dominating force on the hardwood. She had one of the better three-game stretches I have seen out of a prep athlete, and I remember watching the likes of her, Filius and Waid as freshmen help carry the varsity load. They are the perfect example of hard work and dedication paying off. And, hopefully, Havre won’t have to wait another 17 years to bring home a state basketball title, boys or girls.

I think it is safe to say that Havre is a sports town, and the community support was alive and well during the title game and even in the parade to follow on Sunday evening.

The Blue Pony girls should be proud of their accomplishment, it is something that most prep athletes will never get to feel. I know I am proud of the effort that I saw, and am just happy that I could witness a great group of athletes and coaches achieve a common goal.

And I'm excited that I got to see a Havre High girls basketball team, a very deserving one, achieve their dream on Saturday night.