Central A Time: HHS girls host league rivals

Chris Peterson

Havre Daily News

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The Havre High girls basketball team has stumbled out of the gates to open the 2015-16 season, but it's only two games in, and with the start of Central A conference play this weekend, HHS has the chance to quickly turn things around.

If there is one thing Havre has counted on the past few years, it's dominating the Central A. The Ponies won the last four Central A divisional titles and last season rolled through the regular season and divisional tournament unbeaten.

Havre, which is still searching for its first win, could use nothing more than a sweep over conference rivals Livingston and Belgrade, which is what the Ponies hope to get with back-to-back games against the Rangers and Panthers inside the HHS gymnasium. Havre and Livingston will square off tonight at 7:30. Then, Havre and Belgrade will go head-to-head Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

“Conference games are always important,” HHS head coach Dustin Kraske said. “These games are going to determine who goes to divisionals and how we are seeded. So our kids know the importance of them, and I think that has shown in practice this week.”

The Ponies may be in a bit of a funk, but the truth is, they are not the only Central A team trying to find its way early in the season. Livingston comes to Havre with a 1-2 record, while Belgrade comes to town at 1-3. Lewistown and Browning are both 1-1. And with only four of the five teams guaranteed a spot at the new Eastern A divisional, these early-season conference games are especially significant.

“We need to be more consistent,” Kraske said. “I think our kids know they need to play better and they have really stepped up this week. I think part of that is that we are growing up, but I also think it’s because they know what’s at stake.”

Last season, the Ponies and Rangers met in the semifinals at divisionals, with Havre being the winner. Then, Livingston went on to lose a challenge against Lewistown, meaning they just fell short of making the state tournament.

The Rangers may have undergone some changes from last season, but they did return two of their top players in Sierra Higgs and Meagan Gibson. Through three games, Higgs is once again pacing Livingston and leads the team with an average of 16.3 points per game. She is also averaging 4.5 rebounds per game and is shooting better than 50 percent from the field. Like Higgs, Gibson is a huge part of what the Rangers do, not only offensively, but on the boards, too. Gibson comes into tonight's game averaging just under 13 points a game and is grabbing just under five boards.

“I liked what they did at the end of the last season and am sure they will be doing something similar,” Kraske said. “Higgs is a good player and Gibson is a good player. We are going to have our hands full.”

Unlike the Rangers, Belgrade re-enters Central A play this weekend with its top two players from a season ago gone to graduation. Both Alexis Clingingsmith and Erin Singleton played well a year ago for the Panthers, but now that they are gone and it will be up to sisters Shania and Skyla Neubauer, who are among Belgrade's leading scorers this season, to replace them. One issue that the Panthers are dealing with is a lack of scoring. Through four games, they are averaging just over 40 points, which puts them in the same boat as the Ponies, who have scored an average of just 38 points in their first two outings.

Despite laboring to score, HHS still boasts two of the top players in the Central A in Dani Wagner (13 PPG) and Naomi Terry (13.5 PPG), but they are accounting for more than 71 percent of Havre's points, which means the rest of the team needs to up its production.

So far this season, the iron has been extremely unkind to HHS and the team has shot just 31 percent from the field as a whole, while connecting on just six of 38 3-point attempts.

However, in the decade that Kraske has been the coach, the Ponies haven't won because of their offense, it's always been about the defense.

“We aren’t doing anything differently,” Kraske said. “We have just really stressed our fundamentals. We just need to keep growing in our roles and I think that we are. But, the biggest thing for us is going to be playing with consistency on the defensive end, that’s going to be the key.”

Havre and Livingston will tip off tonight at approximately 7:30. The Ponies will then battle Belgrade Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Both games will be inside the HHS gymnasium.