One Down: Ponies rip Locomotives

Entering into the unknown can sometimes be scary. But Wednesday, at the Eastern A Super Divisional, the Havre Blue Ponies played with absolutely no fear.

In a bid to get back to the Class A state tournament for a third straight year, the Havre boys basketball team played one of its most complete games of the year and knocked off defending state champion Laurel 57-41 in the quarterfinal round of the tournament inside the Rimrock Auto Arena at the Metra in Billings.

“Our boys came out and played with no fear,” HHS head coach Curt Leeds said. “They came out and played really well from the get go.”

To say the Ponies played well at the start of the game might be an understatement. Senior Jerod Boles came out firing and after scoring from two, he connected on a trey that put Havre in front 9-1. But Havre wasn’t finished and after back-to-back 3-point plays by Dane Warp, HHS led 15-4 at the end of the first quarter.

Following his 10-point stanza to open the game, Warp continued to dominate in the second quarter, pouring in eight more points and helping the Ponies build a 28-19 halftime advantage.

“They (Laurel) had just a really hard time guarding Dane,” Leeds said. “They just couldn’t find a way to slow him down.”

In the third quarter, Havre continued to be efficient on the offensive end and even though Warp didn’t do much to add to his scoring total in the period, the Ponies scored on their first five possessions, which helped them build a 45-28 lead following three quarters of play.

In the final stanza, Havre simply had to protect its lead and with more efficient play, the Ponies did just that. The Locomotives got closer in the final eight minutes but never mounted a serious threat as HHS secured its spot in the semifinals.

While Warp’s offense and his game-high 25 points were a huge factor in winning the game, Boles also played a key role and his 14 points, which came in large part off of three triples, were instrumental in the win. Ivar Aageson also pitched in with seven points and Zach Hunt, who Leeds credited with drawing six offensive fouls, scored five points as did Nate Rismon.

“Boles really came out shooting the ball well tonight,” Leeds said. “And when he gets going and Rismon gets going, I think we are pretty much unbeatable. I just don’t know how you guard us when Dane is getting his points, because you know he will get his and Rismon and Boles are knocking down shots. Then you either are doubling Dane or leaving those guys wide open.”

Following their win over Laurel, the Ponies will meet Billings Central in the semifinals Friday at 3:30 p.m. The game will be a rematch of last year’s State A quarterfinal, which Havre won with relative ease. Yet, after the Rams demolished Livingston 56-35, it’s clear that beating Billings Central will be no easy task.

“It’s kind of funny,” Leeds said. “They were hot shooting the ball against Livingston like we were against them last year at state. The biggest I think is not giving them easy looks. Livingston played a 2-3 zone and gave them lots of open looks, but we won’t do that. We are going to take away the 3-point line and if we can do that, we feel pretty good about our chances Friday.”

If Havre beats Billings Central Friday, it will advance to the Eastern A championship game Saturday night and at the same time, will clinch a third-consecutive berth in the state tournament

Havre 57, Laurel 41

Laurel 4 15 9 13 – 41

Havre 15 13 17 12 – 57

Laurel: Hayden Love 2, Shay Osborne 13, Christian Jones 5, Adam Gaetz 2, Layne Willis 4, Casey Cole 8, Josh Anderson 2, Trent Goldsberry 5. Totals: 12 16-21.

Havre: Jerod Boles 14, Nate Rismon 5, Nate Korb 2, Dane Warp 25, Ivar Aageson 7, Zachary Hunt 4. Totals: 21 12-18.