Blue Pony girls topple Panthers, Rangers

The Havre High girls basketball team wasn't at its best this past weekend. But in the end, it didn't matter as the Blue Ponies did what good teams do - they found a way to win.

Havre continued its domination of the Central A conference with two more wins in league play. Friday, the Ponies hosted the Belgrade Panthers and got their weekend off to a positive start with a 47-29 trouncing. Then, HHS finished the weekend off with a 59-49 win over Livingston Saturday. Both games were held at the HHS gymnasium and with the wins, the No. 4 Ponies improved to 9-2 overall and 6-0 in the Central A. The win Saturday also marked the sixth straight win for the No. 4 team in Class A.

"I think (the wins over Belgrade and Livingston are) a sign that we are growing up and gaining some maturity," HHS head coach Dustin Kraske said. "We were able to get baskets when we needed baskets and got stops when we needed to get stops. I think that's a sign of maturity. That has been our last four or five games, which is great for our kids. We have made some foul shots down the stretch and I think it's been a good thing for us."

Against the Panthers, the Ponies led wire-to-wire and jumped out to a 10-1 advantage right away thanks to five quick points from Morgan Mazurkiewicz and a layup from Ceyara Plante just three minutes into the opening quarter.

Yet, Belgrade was able to make a game of it, and thanks to four first-quarter points from Alexis Clingingsmith, the Panthers trailed just 12-9 at the end of one. The Havre lead shrunk even further midway in the second when Hanna Gee hit a 3-pointer and suddenly the Ponies led just 15-14.

But as they have done all season, the Ponies answered. First, Dani Wagner scored to push the lead back to three, then Mazurkiewicz connected twice from beyond the arc in the closing minutes of the first half to give the Ponies a 23-14 lead at intermission.

Both teams clamped down on defense in the third quarter, but despite scoring just eight points, the Ponies grabbed a 31-19 lead with 2:02 left in the third and the score would remain that way entering the game's final eight minutes.

The two teams traded baskets to open the final stanza, but the Panthers were never able to get back within single digits. Leading 36-25 with 5:20 to play, Havre went on a 7-0 run that included baskets by Wagner and Marca Herron, as well as a trey by Naomi Terry with 3:51 left that proved to be the dagger as the Ponies took a commanding 43-25 lead.

"We weren't shooting the ball as well as we normally do," Kraske said. "But our kids kept shooting, and you have to give them credit for that. That's what we want them to do."

Wagner was outstanding in the win for the Ponies and finished as the game's leading scorer with 18 points. Mazurkiewicz hit four times from beyond the arc on her way to 12 points. Clingingsmith was the high scorer for Belgrade with eight points.

After disposing of the Panthers for the second time this season, the Ponies were determined to do the same thing to Livingston Saturday, and once again Havre got off to a fast start. Thanks to a six-point first quarter from Lindsey Kudrna, HHS jumped out to a 15-8 lead after the first eight minutes of action.

Still up by seven, Plante buried a corner three to make the Pony lead 18-8 at the 5:40 mark of the second quarter. Yet, the Ponies would make just one more field goal the rest of the half and the Rangers closed on a 13-6 run to trim the Havre lead to 24-21.

"Defensively, we need to do a better job," Kraske said. "Offensively, we were getting good looks but we weren't making them, and I think that negatively affected our defensive presence."

However, once the third quarter began the Ponies started making shots. Holly Purkett and Wagner each had 3-point plays within the first few minutes of the second half, then Plante and Terry both hit from deep to give HHS a 38-29 advantage with 2:43 left in the quarter. And when Kudrna scored in the final minutes of the third, the Ponies took a 44-32 lead into the final stanza.

Things were looking bleak for the Rangers, but Meghan Schoenen scored eight points in less than two minutes to get Livingston back within striking distance at 46-41 with 4:21 left in the game. The Ponies responded with a two from Mazurkiewicz and two more baskets from Wagner to extend the lead to 54-45 and put the game on ice with just over a minute to play.

Mazurkiewicz led the Ponies with 14, while Purkett had 12. Plante pitched in with 11 and Wagner ended up with 10.

"We are getting better and we have kids like Ceyara and Holly that are growing into their roles," Kraske said. "We just need to help them continue to grow and get better and we have (seven) games left to do that."

The Ponies will look to continue their win streak this week when they travel to Great Falls Thursday to take on Great Falls High before returning home to host CMR Saturday.

Havre 47, Belgrade 29

Belgrade 9 5 5 10 – 29

Havre 12 11 8 16 – 47

Belgrade – Kindall Bethke 2, Alexis Clingingsmith 8, Kyla Neubauer 2, Krista Brown 8, Erin Singleton 1, Pipi Eitel 3, Hannah Gee 3, Kiah Hoenstein 2. Totals: 10 8-11.

Havre – Ceyara Plante 3, Dani Wagner 18, Morgan Mazurkiewicz 12, Naomi Terry 3, Rachel Majeres 3, Maya Reed 2, Marca Herron 2, Holly Purkett 2, Lindsay Kudrna 2. Totals: 18 6-12.

3-pointers – Gee, M. Mazurkiewicz 4, Terry. Total fouls – Belgrade 13, Havre 13.

Havre 59, Livingston 49

Livingston 8 13 11 17 – 49

Havre 15 9 20 15 – 59

Livingston – M. Gibson 4, O. Mogen 5, S. Higgs 10, M. Schoenen 17, H. Peterson 3, M. Ingram 6, C. Woods 2, A. Bergsing 2. Totals: 18 7-18.

Havre – Ceyara Plante 9, Dani Wagner 10, Morgan Mazurkiewicz 14, Naomi Terry 3, Holly Purkett 12, Lindsey Kudrna 11. Totals: 18 19-24.