Blue Pony boys go for the Goat

It's not often that a team gets a chance to do something that hasn't been done in 25 years, but tonight the Havre High boys basketball team can do just that by winning back the Ole Goat.

The last time the Blue Ponies (8-4, 4-2) had possession of the Ole Goat was in 1991, but after beating the Bison (6-2, 2-2) Dec. 21, 69-55 at the HHS gymnasium, HHS can win back the trophy with a win in Great Falls at Swarthout Fieldhouse. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.

"It has been a long time," HHS head coach Curt Leeds said. "And these boys are very capable of getting it back this year. If we can get back to playing a little bit smarter offensively. When we play smart we can really score some points. And defensively, we still played pretty well against Livingston and Belgrade. We only gave up 56 and 48 points. But, offensively, if we could get that flow going, I think we could have a good chance against them."

In the first meeting between the two teams, the Ponies definitely had the offense flowing as Dane Warp scored 31 points and Jerod Boles added 13. As a team, the Ponies knocked down eight 3-pointers in possibly their best offensive performance of the season.

Since the outburst against Great Falls High, though, the Ponies have struggled shooting the ball. For the season, their shooting percentage has dipped to 38 percent. From beyond the arc, the Ponies are shooting 28 percent and from the free-throw-line, they are at 61 percent.

However, Havre's offensive slump didn't really affect the team's record until last weekend, when the Ponies lost back-to-back conference games to Livingston and Belgrade. The biggest reason why HHS has been able to keep winning has been its defense.

Through 12 games, the Ponies are surrendering just 48.67 points per game to opponents, which currently ranks third in Class A, behind Dillon and Butte Central. And in the first meeting between Havre and GFH, the Ponies were also stingy, limiting the Bison to 55 points.

Havre also did an admirable job of slowing down Brendan Howard, the top scorer in Class AA basketball with an average of 25 points per game. The junior did score 29 points against HHS, but he took a lot of shots to get there and the rest of the team was held under double figures.

"He's been the leading scorer for every game," Leeds said. "We did the same thing to Livingston and it didn't really work out for us. But that is going to be our game plan again. If we are going to have somebody beat us, we want it to be somebody other than their best player."

The Bison may not have a ton of scoring alternatives outside of Howard, but they do have a solid group of scorers capable of picking up the slack such as Keaton Burcham, Kody Torgerson and Reece Green.

The defensive strategy of the Bison could be similar to Havre's in the fact that they will want to limit Warp, who is second in Class A with an average of 23.5 points per game. Boles is the Ponies' second-leading scorer with 7.5 points per game and Nate Rismon is third with 7.25 a game.

And even though Leeds said earlier in the year that he didn't want the Ole Goat to define his team's season, now, after a couple of losses, he said his team could use a shot in the arm.

"Back then, I was thinking that we would be 6-0 or 5-1 in the conference," Leeds said. "But now that we lost those two games, that has changed everything. I think if we could go down there and win the Ole Goat, that would give us a lot of confidence and so we do kind of need it to define our season, in terms of using that to gain confidence."

After making the trip to Great Falls today to take on the Bison, the Ponies will return home on Saturday in search of their fourth consecutive win over CMR. HHS swept the Rustlers last season, thanks to the heroics of Warp and earlier this season (Dec. 12), Havre defeated its AA rival 55-42, giving the Ponies a shot at another season sweep.

Of course, the Rustlers were missing Karl Tucker II, who is one of the leading scorers in AA basketball with 15.4 points a night. Sam Vining is also a threat Havre will need to neutralize. He is averaging better than 12 points a game.

At this point, though, the CMR game is little more than an afterthought, because at least until tomorrow, it's all about the Ole Goat.

"I haven't really talked to the boys about it a whole lot," Leeds said. "I think they are excited. I think they know they have a chance to be the group of kids that gets the Ole Goat back. We do need something to help get us back on track and getting a win (tonight) in Great Falls would help us do that."

The Ponies and the Bison will kick off tonight's winner-take-all game for the Ole Goat at 7:30. Havre will then host CMR Saturday at 5 p.m. inside the HHS gymnasium.