HHS boys split with Central A rivals

It was not all sunshine and roses for the Havre High boys basketball this past weekend. But when the times got tough, the Blue Ponies responded with one of their most important wins of the season.

Havre came into the weekend with a chance to maintain sole possession of first place in the Central A conference, but after losing to Belgrade 48-40 Friday inside the HHS gymnasium, the Ponies lost that opportunity. Yet, all was not lost for the Ponies, who rebounded in a big way Saturday, knocking off Livingston 74-57 in their second straight home game. HHS improved its overall record to 8-4 overall and 4-2 in the Central A, good enough to remain tied for first place.

"It was huge," Havre junior Dane Warp said of the team's win over Livingston. "We had been on a bit of a skid and with Great Falls and CMR coming up on the schedule this week, we really needed to get some momentum."

Before taking on Livingston, the Ponies battled Belgrade and were hoping to create some separation between themselves and the Panthers in the Central A standings. But Belgrade was determined to redeem itself after falling 40-36 to Havre earlier in the season and came out playing at a high level defensively.

However, after falling behind 5-2 early, the Ponies went on a 6-0 run that featured scores by Warp, Rismon and Jase Kato to grab an 8-5 edge. Havre pushed the lead to 10-7 after two free throws by Jerod Boles, but a basket by Brayden Konkol and a 3-pointer by Ethan Turner gave Belgrade a two-point lead before Warp scored to tie it at 12-12 heading into the second quarter.

The two teams went back-and-forth in the second before Keldon Lamb scored to give Belgrade a 21-18 lead, but Havre tied it back up just 43 seconds later on a trey by Boles. Yet, a basket by Koby Ruff and a 3-pointer by Dawson Fowler helped Belgrade take a 26-24 lead into intermission.

In the third quarter, the Belgrade defense, which was already playing well, took the game over. The Ponies managed just three points in the quarter and were held without a field goal for over six minutes before Boles broke through at 1:48, but by then the Panthers had built a 40-27 advantage.

Havre managed to score 13 points in the fourth quarter but didn't get the lead down to single digits until a Warp three with just 11 seconds remaining in the game, and at that time, it was too little too late.

"Havre is a great team," Belgrade head coach Mike Deming said. "They are a difficult team to stop, but we just wanted to make it as difficult as we could for them, and we were fortunate to be able to come out of here with a win."

Warp led all scorers with 15 points in defeat for Havre. Boles contributed with 12. Lamb led the way for Belgrade with 14, while Fowler had 11 and Konkol had eight.

"We let Belgrade dictate how the game was going to be played," Leeds said. "I think part of that is my fault. I wanted to play zone and they hit some shots against it and we probably should have switched and starting playing more man."

Leeds would not make that same mistake again. With his team coming off a third consecutive loss and in desperate need of a win, he decided to play man-to-man defense against Livingston Saturday and it helped Havre set the tone from the get-go.

After holding the Rangers to just two points in the first few minutes, HHS jumped out to an 8-2 lead after a trey by Boles and a two from Michael Bakke. Yet, the Rangers bounced back from a slow start and following a 2-pointer from Sterling Lay they tied the score at 12-12 before scores from Warp and Kato gave the Ponies a 16-13 lead after the opening stanza.

In the second, Havre opened up its lead, and when Warp nailed a three with 3:36 left in the first half, the Ponies were up 29-19. Warp hit a 2-pointer later in the half that put HHS ahead 37-26 before Livingston made four free throws to trim the deficit to 37-30 at the break.

The Rangers got even closer in the third quarter, when they opened the second half on an 8-3 run. But as they had all night when the Rangers got close, the Ponies responded with a run of their own. It started with a Rismon three and continued with another by Jacob LaBrie. Then HHS got baskets by Warp and Boles to finish a 12-4 spurt to end the third quarter leading 54-44.

Minutes into the fourth, Livingston was still within 10 at 58-48 but the Ponies went on a 10-0 run that included scores by Bakke and Kato, as well as six points from Warp. When Warp capped the run with another bucket, the Ponies were up 68-48 and the game was all but over.

"This showed a lot about what these boys are made of," Leeds said about the Livingston win. "We played a lot more man, and the kids really got after it. I thought our defense created an energy for us and that carried over to the offensive end as well."

With the win over Livingston the Ponies remained tied for first place in the Central A at 4-2. They currently share first place with Belgrade, which is also 4-2 in the conference after knocking off Browning Saturday.

The Ponies will have two more big challenges this week as they welcome Great Falls High into the HHS gymnasium Thursday before taking the trip down to Great Falls Saturday to go head-to-head against CMR.

Belgrade 48, Havre 40

Belgrade 12 14 14 8 - 48

Havre 13 11 3 13 - 40

Belgrade: D. Fowler 11, Brayden Konkol 8, Koby Ruff 4, E. Turner 3, C. Robecker 6, Keldon Lamb 14, D. Tanascu 2. Totals: 15 11-20.

Havre: Jerod Boles 12, Nate Rismon 4, Nate Korb 2, Dane Warp 15, Michael Bakke 5, Jase Kato 2. Totals: 1 9-16.

Total fouls: Belgrade 14, Havre 15. Fouled out: none. 3-pointers: Boles 1, Warp 2, Fowler 3, Robecker 2, Lamb 1.

Havre 74, Livingston 57

Livingston 13 17 14 13 – 57

Havre 18 19 17 20 – 74

Livingston – R. Floyd 14, S. Lay 8, C. Amsk 5, J. Lehrer 12, J. Ricketts 5, L. Ricketts 8, J. Overstreet 5. Totals: 21 11-14.

Havre – Jerod Boles 13, Nate Rismon 7, Nate Korb 2, Dane Warp 23, Jacob LaBrie 5, Michael Bakke 18, Wyatt Lindbloom 2, Jase Kato 4. Totals: 29 10-14.

3-pointers – Floyd 2, Lehrer, J. Ricketts, Boles 3, N. Rismon, Warp, LaBrie. Total fouls – Liv 17, Havre 12. Fouled out – Overstreet.