Home Defense: Pony boys sweep rivals

The Havre High boys basketball team hasn't been lighting up the scoreboard like some expected at the start of the season, but they are lighting it up in the one place that matters — the win column.

The Blue Ponies were at home for back-to-back games this past weekend and thanks to a stout defense and the dynamic scoring of Dane Warp, who scored 63 points in two games, HHS scored a 48-44 win over Browning Friday, followed by a 75-50 win over Rocky Boy Saturday. Both games were held at the HHS gymnasium.

The win over Browning was especially key for the Ponies since it improved their record in the Central A conference to 4-0. The win Saturday completed the weekend sweep for Havre, which extended its winning streak to four games and raised its overall record to 8-2.

"I am really proud of the way the boys have been playing defense this year," HHS head coach Curt Leeds said. "At the start of the year, if you would have told me that our defense would be playing great and our offense was struggling a little bit, I wouldn't have believed you. But, they (the team) have really committed to the defensive side of the ball and I think that it shows."

Against Browning Friday, the Ponies would rely heavily on their defense again to pull out the victory. Havre got off to a slow start offensively, as Browning jumped out to a 10-6 lead in the first quarter, but a layup by Jerod Boles and two free throws by Warp tied the score at 10-10 after one.

In the second stanza, the Pony offense got a boost from Michael Loftus, who scored back-to-back buckets early in the quarter to give HHS a 16-12 advantage. Then, with the score 18-14, Havre went on a 13-4 run that included 3-pointers by both Dane and Isaac Warp and was capped on another layup by Boles to put HHS in front 31-18. Browning added two points before half and at the intermission the Ponies held a 31-20 edge.

Loftus connected on two more field goals inside early in the third quarter and suddenly Havre had its biggest lead of the game at 35-22. Yet, at that point, the Ponies went cold. The Indians would outscore HHS 9-2 over the final five minutes of the third, trimming the Havre lead to 37-31 with eight minutes remaining.

The scoring slump continued for the Ponies in the fourth, while at the same time, the Indians were catching fire, and when Josh Monroe nailed a jumper from the top of the key, the score was tied 39-39 with 4:51 remaining.

Needing a basket, Loftus came through again, connecting on his fifth field goal to give Havre back the lead at 41-39, he finished the game with a career-high 11 points.

"He really came up big for us," Leeds said of Loftus. "He gave us a scoring boost inside that was nice to see."

With less than two minutes to play, Dane Warp added two free throws to put Havre back up four. Monroe answered with a two, but a two from Boles put the Ponies back up four 45-41 with under a minute left.

Yet, the Indians wouldn't quit, and with 12 seconds remaining, had the ball and a chance to tie. But, the Havre defense forced a turnover on the game's decisive possession and Warp drilled two free throws to ice the win.

It was the third game in a row, that a Havre opponent had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead in the final 30 seconds only to be turned away by the Pony defense.

"It's awesome," Warp said of his team's defense at the end of games. "It's great to do it, especially against teams that are bigger than us, being able to buckle down and get rebounds and force turnovers."

Warp finished the game leading all scorers with 21 points. Isaac Warp contributed with seven points, all in the second quarter and Boles finished with six. Ryan Loring and Jordan Hipp each had 11 for Browning, while Monroe pitched in with 10.

While the defense ruled the day Friday for Havre, Saturday, it was all about the offense and, more particularly, it was all about Warp.

The struggling Havre offense came to life against Rocky Boy Saturday and started with the game with a 7-2 run after a trey by Boles. Warp would score 11 first-quarter points and at the end of the stanza HHS led 20-10.

In the second quarter, Warp continued his onslaught, scoring 17 of Havre's 26 points in the period, thanks in part to a 3-pointer and a 3-point play, giving him 28 points at halftime and the Ponies a 46-33 lead.

Rocky Boy hung around and managed to stay within striking distance on some buckets by Kendall Windy Boy, but a 5-0 run to close the third quarter, one that was capped with a triple by Isaac Warp, gave Havre a 57-41 advantage heading into the fourth.

The Ponies continued the run in the final stanza, scoring 11 of the period's first 12 points. Warp capped the run with a trey at the 5:52 mark that extended the Havre lead to 68-42 and completed a 16-1 run.

"At halftime we talked about how our offense was playing better, but then we weren't playing as well on defense," Leeds said. "But we came out and did a much better job in the second half. We just need to see if we can get our offense and our defense both playing at a high level at the same time."

Warp added three more points before being pulled from the game with 2:57 to go. He finished with 42.

"I think he really wanted to make up for (Friday) when he missed a few easy shots," Leeds said. "He was really aggressive and when he is attacking the basket like that, you can just see how it opens things up for everyone else.

"I just wanted to emphasize finishing," Warp said. "Especially after (Friday). I missed a ton of bunnies, so I just wanted to finish a little bit better."

The Ponies had a total of 10 players score in the 25-point win and after Warp, the next leading scorer was Boles with seven, followed by Nate Rismon and Loftus with four each. Windy Boy put together a strong 19-point performance for the Stars, while Ben Iron Eyes also added 13.

Havre will put its perfect 4-0 conference record on the line with back-to-back road games against Livingston and Belgrade this Friday and Saturday. The game against Livingston will tip at 6 p.m., while the game against Belgrade will start at 2 p.m.

Havre 48, Browning 44

Browning 10 10 11 13 – 44

Havre 10 21 6 11 – 48

Browning – Ryan Loring 11, Koby Red Horn 3, Jordan Hipp 11, Charlie Powell 3, Josh Monroe 10, Tristen Red Horn 6. Totals: 13 15-22.

Havre – Jerod. Boles 6, Nate Rismon 1, Dane Warp 21, Jacob LaBrie 2, Isaac Warp 7, Michael Loftus 11. Totals: 14 17-27.

3-Point goals – K. Red Horn 1, Hipp 1, T. Red Horn 1, D. Warp 2, I. Warp 1. Fouls – Browning 23, Havre 23. Fouled out – Loring, Alonzo Skunkcap.

Havre 75, Rocky Boy 50

Rocky Boy 10 23 8 9 – 50

Havre 20 25 12 18 – 75

Rocky Boy – Jerell Gopher 2, Corcoran 10, Ben Iron Eyes 4, Belgarde 4, Kendall Windy boy 19, Parker 2.

Havre – Jerod Boles 7, Nate Rismon 4, Nate Korb 4, Dane Warp 42, Jacob LaBrie 3, Isaac Warp 3, Ryan Bakke 2, Zach Hunt 2, Michael Loftus 4, Bridger Bibeau 2.