Blue Ponies just miss third-place trophy

MISSOULA - For the second time in as many days, the Havre High boys basketball team was left heartbroken in the bowels of Dahlberg Arena in Missoula. This time however, there was a finality to it.

Saturday night, in the Class A consolation game, the Blue Ponies lost a 66-65 overtime thriller against the Polson Pirates, ending their bid to bring a trophy back to Havre for the first time since 2004. The game was also the end to the brilliant career of Blue Pony star Dane Warp, who scored 32 points, and hit a fade away 3-pointer with :25 left in regulation with his team down three points. The careers of fellow seniors Jerod Boles, who scored 26 points to help lift HHS into the consolation game with a win over Laurel Saturday morning, as well as three-year starter Nate Rismon also came to a close.

"What Dane has done with his career, it's just amazing," HHS head coach Curt Leeds. "And with the help of Jerod and Nate, they have brought Havre High basketball back to where it should be."

Against the talented Pirates, also playing their second game of the day, Boles closed the first quarter with a 3-pointer, but Polson would go on to lead 31-29 at halftime. Jacob LaBrie's triples at the end of the third lifted HHS to a 40-39 lead after three periods, , while HHS led by as many as four in the fourth, but also trailed 54-51 with :40 left in regulation before Warp's three tied it.

Polson took a five-point lead to start the extra frame, , but thanks to a three-point play by Warp with 44 seconds left, Havre had plenty of time to win the game. The two teams traded missed free throws in the final seconds, and after the last miss by Polson, Warp had the ball with :08 left, but the Ponies never got a look at the bucket as time expired.

"I feel good because the kids did everything they were supposed to do," Leeds said. "We didn't lose the game because of anything they did. I should have called time out when we got the ball back. So that's completely my fault. Our kids played their hearts out for two games and an overtime today, and that's all you can ask of them at the end of the day."

In the 70-57 win over Laurel Saturday morning, Warp was again brilliant, scoring 29 points and pulling down 13 rebounds, while Boles drilled five three's and Nate Rismon added 12 points. Rismon would miss much of the consolation game with an injury as Havre finished in fourth place and 18-7 on the season.

"The four best teams in the state played on Saturday night at the state tournament," Leeds said. "And we were one of them. And I'm proud of these boys for that. They accomplished so much this season. They set the standard again for what Havre boys basketball should be."

For full coverage of the Ponies, see Monday's Havre Daily News.