Havre High sweeps Rocky Boy at home

Back on Jan. 17, the Havre Blue Ponies were thoroughly outplayed by the Rocky Boy Stars. And while they were given a win retroactively due to forfeit, the Ponies still wanted to prove they could beat the Stars on the court, which they did in dramatic fashion on Saturday.

In a game that Rocky Boy led most of the way, Havre executed in the key moments when it had to the most, including a 3-point dagger from Jerod Boles to give the Ponies an exhilarating 71-69 victory inside the HHS gymnasium.

With Havre down 69-66 in the final minute of the game, Dane Warp got to the free throw line and connected on both attempts to trim the Stars’ lead to 69-68 with just over 20 seconds remaining. Havre had just two team fouls and so it forced them to foul on purpose five times to put Rocky Boy on the free throw line for a one-and-one.

The Stars missed the ensuing free throw and Havre’s Jase Kato grabbed the rebound and hit Warp with the outlet pass to trigger the fast break. Warp advanced the ball across the timeline when he was trapped by two Rocky Boy defenders. At that point, he passed the ball to Boles, who connected from beyond the arc to put HHS ahead 71-69 with three seconds left.

The Stars tried to advance the ball down the floor for a final shot attempt but turned the ball over on Havre’s side of the floor as time expired.

“I thought it was a big confidence boost for our boys,” HHS head coach Curt Leeds said. “It was good to get a win, especially when we were down most of the way. The boys just kept battling. Dane found Jerod and he stepped up and hit a big-time shot.”

At the start of the game, Rocky Boy grabbed the lead and took control of the game. By the end of the first quarter the Stars built a 23-19 lead. At halftime, the Stars extended their advantage to 42-36. Yet, the Ponies responded by outscoring Rocky Boy 16-10 in the third quarter to tie things up before Rocky Boy reclaimed the advantage, setting the stage for Havre’s dramatic, last-minute comeback.

Warp was stellar in the win for Havre, finishing with a game-high 26 points. Michael Bakke was also key for Havre with 18 and Boles pitched in with 11. Kato also added eight.

Junior Day Child led the way for Rocky Boy with 18 points. Shadow LaForge contributed with 12 as did Cecil LaFromboise, which was much less than the 31 points he scored in the first game between the two teams.

“Jase worked hard and did a really good job on LaFromboise,” Leeds said. “He worked really hard inside and that’s the kind of effort that we need from him. (Kato) just made it difficult for him to get the ball down low and that was a big key. We need to keep getting that from him going forward, he was really aggressive.”

With the win, the Ponies improved to 12-5 on the season. They are still 4-3 in the Central A but after Lewistown fell to Browning, HHS is guaranteed of finishing no worse than third, which means they will play Browning in the semifinals at the Central A Divisionals in Great Falls, which begins Feb. 26. Havre will also host the Indians next Saturday at 3 p.m. at the HHS gymnasium.

Before the Havre boys basketball team knocked off Rocky Boy, the Havre High girls basketball team went head-to-head with the Morning Stars inside the HHS gymnasium Saturday and came away with a 43-33 victory thanks to an impressive defensive effort.

The Ponies built an 11-5 lead after the first eight minutes of action and by halftime, Havre had a 23-14 advantage. Following the third quarter, the Ponies had surrendered just 19 points to Rocky Boy and were in front by 10, heading to the final stanza.

Both teams ended up scoring ten points in the fourth quarter but the Morning Stars never really threatened the Ponies, who used their stingy defense to hold on for the 10-point win.

“We played ok. I don’t think we played our best but that’s kind of the reality right now,” HHS head coach Dustin Kraske said. “We need to start communicating better on defense. But, senior night is always kind of a tough thing. It brings out different kinds of emotions and that can make it difficult but our kids handled it well.”

Dani Wagner led the way for the Ponies with a team-high 14 points in the win. Senior Morgan Mazurkiewicz also had a solid night with 12 points and a pair of 3-pointers in her final home game. Naomi Terry also had eight.

Jai-Lynn Day Child was outstanding in the loss for Rocky Boy with 18 points. However, the Havre defense was so dominant that no other Rocky Boy player scored more than five points.

The win improved Havre’s record to 13-4 overall. The Ponies are also 7-0 in the Central A and actually clinched the regular season title and top seed at divisionals thanks to a Browning loss to Lewistown on Saturday.

The Ponies will close out the regular season next Saturday in Browning. Tip-off will be at 5 p.m.

Havre 43, Rocky Boy 33 (Girls)

Rocky Boy 5 9 5 14 – 33

Havre 11 12 6 14 – 43

Rocky Boy – Jai'Lynn DayChild 13, L. Four Colors 5, S. Patacsil 1, S. Henry 2, J. The Boy 1, K. Cantrell 4, J. LaForge 3, Rosie Parker 2, J. Mitchell 2. Totals: 11 10-15.

Havre – Dani Wagner 14, Morgan Mazurkiewicz 12, Naomi Terry 8, Rachel Majeres 1, Holly Purkoff 2, Lindsey Kudrua 6. Totals: 14 11-18.

3-pointers – Four Colors, Wagner 2, M. Mazurkiewicz 2. Total fouls – RB 14, Havre 11.

Havre 71, Rocky Boy 69 (Boys)

Rocky Boy 23 19 10 17 — 69

Havre 19 17 16 19 — 71

Rocky Boy – Bubby Gopher 5, Isiah Murie 6, Skyler Parisian 6, Junior Day Child 18, Shadow LaForge 12, L. Parker 6, L. Plain Bull 3, Cecil LaFrombois 12. Totals: 31 3-5.

Havre – Jerod Boles 11, Nate Rismon 7, Nate Korb 1, Dane Warp 26, Michael Bakke 18, Jase Kato 8. Totals: 25 14-20.

3-point goals – Gopher 1, LaForge 2, Plain Bull 1, Boles 3, Rismon 1, Warp 3. Total fouls – Rocky Boy 17, Havre 11. Fouled out – None.