Blue Pony girls corral the Bison at home

If defense wins championships, then the Havre High girls basketball team is well on its way to contending for another Class A state title. Especially if it keeps playing defense the way it did against Great Falls High.

The Blue Ponies, who hosted Great Falls Friday night at the HHS gymnasium in the first of two non-conference games this past weekend, cruised to a 49-35 victory over the Bison thanks in large part to the dominant defense that is the trademark of Havre basketball.

"We did a great job of communicating and getting after it," HHS head coach Dustin Kraske said. "But even more than that, the kids were playing hard. I mean they were really getting after it. And it was obvious from the way that we played, we were all over the place. So credit our kids for that, they did a great job."

Havre and Great Falls traded baskets back-and-forth to open the game. The game was tied 6-6 when Morgan Mazurkiewicz drilled a 3-pointer to put the Ponies up three with 2:04 left in the first quarter. Leading 9-8 to start the second quarter, Havre began to open up a lead as a 6-0 run was capped by a Dani Wagner basket that put HHS ahead 15-8 minutes into the second.

After a Hannah Collins score trimmed the Havre lead to three points at 15-12, Mazurkiewicz hit her second trey of the half. Then, on the ensuing Pony possession, Naomi Terry hit a triple to put Havre on top 21-12 with 2:16 to go before half.

A 2-pointer from Tori Mazurkiewciz with 57 seconds left ended the 8-0 Havre run and helped the Ponies build a 23-14 halftime lead. The late Havre run closed a quarter in which the Ponies dominated on defense, holding Great Falls to just six points and one field goal.

In the third quarter, the Ponies' lead got even larger. Havre scored seven straight points to open the stanza, five coming from Morgan Mazurkiewicz. And that combined with the fact but the Bison didn't score until the 3:47 mark allowed HHS to take a commanding 30-14 lead.

When Holly Schmitz did finally connect on a 3-pointer to end the scoring drought for the Bison, it had been 8:32 since Great Falls has scored. The Pony defense was so stingy that at one point, Great Falls made just one field goal in the span of 14:02.

Yet, after seeing one shot go in, the Bison got some confidence and finished the third on a 13-5 run that trimmed the Havre lead down to 35-27 going into the fourth. But just as quickly as Great Falls made it a game again, the Ponies put it out of reach with a 10-2 run to begin the final stanza.

The run started with two free throws from Morgan Mazurkiewcz and also featured two baskets apiece from Terry and Lindsey Kudrna. The second score from Kudrna came with 4:21 to go in the game, finishing the run and giving Havre a 47-29 lead that was too much for the Bison to overcome.

"(Great Falls) made a little run and got back within eight points, I think, but our kids showed a lot of maturity battling off their momentum and creating our own," Kraske said. "Part of that was our defense. We were able to get some confidence and get some easy baskets in transition, so credit our kids; they did great."

Morgan Mazurkiewicz led the way for HHS in the win with a game-high 18 points. Terry added nine and Wagner pitched in with eight.

"Morgan is a hard-nosed kid. She's obviously one of our top leaders," Kraske said. "She does a great job on the floor for us. You have to give her credit, that's how she plays all the time for us."

Nora Klick scored 12 points to pace the Bison. Schmitz also reached double figures in points and finished with 10.

Following the win over Great Falls, the Ponies hit the road to take Malta Saturday in non-conference action. Havre was attempting to avenge a season-opening loss to the M-Ettes but fell short, 57-45.

Malta built a 16-10 lead by the end of the first quarter and thanks to a 19-point second quarter, the M-Ettes took a 35-24 lead into intermission. Havre held Malta to just 22 points in the second half but the Ponies simply couldn't score enough to close the gap.

"We didn't play very well, and there was a combination of things. The coaching needs to be better. We also didn't communicate well and didn't play with confidence offensively," Kraske said. "There was a lot of hesitation that caused our level of play to drop to a level that I don't think our kids will accept, to be frank with you."

Terry continued her recent string of strong play and posted a team-high 13 points in the loss. Morgan and Tori Mazurkiewicz also had 10 and eight points, respectively.

Sophia Stiles put forth a stellar performance in the win for Malta, knocking down two 3-pointers on her way to notching a game-high 22 points. Hailey Nicholson also had a big night for the M-Ettes with 16 points.

The split over the weekend leaves the Ponies at 3-2 overall and 2-0 in Central A conference play. Havre will be back on the hardwood Friday when Conrad comes to the HHS gymnasium. The game is set for 7 p.m. Then, on Saturday, the Ponies will head to Lewistown where they will take on the Eagles with tip-off scheduled for 5 p.m

Havre 49, Great Falls 35

GFHS 8 6 13 8 – 35

Havre 9 14 12 14 – 49

Great Falls – Hannah Collins 2 3-4 7, Hannah May 1 0-1 2, Gabby Fought 0 0-2 0, Nora Klick 4 3-4 12, Molly Schmitz 4 1-2 10, Marissa Meyer 0 0-1 0, Emma Madsen 2 0-0 4. Totals: 13 7-14.

Havre – Dani Wagner 4 0-0 8, Morgan Mazurkiewicz 5 6-6 18, Tori Mazurkiewicz 2 0-0 4, Naomi Terry 4 0-2 9, Rachel Majeres 1 0-1 2, Lindsey Kudrna 4 0-0 8. Totals: 20 6-9.

Total fouls – GFHS 13, Havre 15. Fouled out – M. Mazurkiewicz. 3-pointers – Klick, Schmitz, M. Mazurkiewicz 2, Terry.

Malta 57, Havre 45

Havre 10 14 15 6 -- 45

Malta 16 19 13 9 -- 57

Havre – Dani Wagner 7, Morgan Mazurkiewicz 10, Tori Mazurkiewicz 8, Naomi Terry 13, Rachel Majeres 1, Lindsey Kudrna 6. Totals: 13 17-33.

Malta – Marley Manoukian 4, Sophia Stiles 22, Markelle Lett 4, Hailey Nicholson 16, Kelsey Kuehn 2, Darby Schye 9. Totals: 20 15-24.

Three pointers – T. Mazurkiewicz 1, Terry 1, Stiles 2. Total fouls – Havre 21, Malta 23. Fouled out – Wagner, Stiles. Technical fouls – Havre Coach.