Combined State A tourney would make sense for Ponies

Neither Havre High basketball team hoisted a trophy at the respective boys or girls state tournaments recently. Yet, that doesn’t change the fact that that when it comes to Class A, few programs have been better collectively better then the Blue Pony boys and girls.

Dating back to the 2013-14 season, Havre basketball has flourished. Both programs have won a lot of games, have won championships and have played at the state tournament in each of the past three seasons.

Of course, the crowning achievement of Havre basketball during the last three years was the girls state championship in 2014. That was the first state title in basketball for any Blue Pony team since 1997 and the first Havre trophy at state in 10 years.

Yet, head coach Dustin Kraske’s program was far from finished. When the 2015 state tournament rolled around, the Ponies put together an admirable title defense, defeating Hardin in the first round, before losing to Hamilton, the host school in the semifinals.

Then, this season, Kraske and a roster that included just one senior, Dani Wagner, got the Ponies back to the state tournament for the ninth time in 10 seasons. The HHS lost in the opening round at state to Columbia Falls, but before losing to Dillon in loser-out action Saturday morning, the Ponies defeated Frenchtown, giving them at least one win at state for the fourth straight year.

At this point, there is no doubt that the Havre girls are a force to be reckoned with in Class A basketball and with most of the roster set to return next season, their run appears far from over.

However, the loss of Wagner can’t be minimized. Like Morgan Mazurkiewicz, Peyton Filius and Brandy Lambourne before her, Wagner is going to continue playing in the Frontier Conference. And like those before her, she also went out with a bang.

After earning All-State honors as a junior, Wagner took her game to an even higher level this past season, averaging 18 points a game, which was second in the state. She also averaged more than 20 points a game to lead Havre to a third-place finish at the Eastern A Super-Divisional and played outstanding at the state.

Wagner may not be back, but Havre is used to replacing great players and with a slew of talented players returning, it wouldn’t be a shock to see the Pony girls back at state once again next season.

While the past three seasons have also been kind to the Havre boys, they have also been more meaningful, simply due to how far the program has come.

Unlike the girls program, the boys berth in the 2014 state tournament was their first since 2006. So winning a game at the 2014 state tournament was a huge achievement. And led by Dane Warp, arguably the best player in program history, Havre was far from done.

In 2015, an upstart Havre team came within a two points of playing for the state championship. And in 2016, the Ponies, spurned on by a 29-point-per-game performance by Warp, won the first-ever Eastern A Super Divisional — their first divisional title in 12 years.

For the second straight year, the Ponies made it to the semifinals at the Class A state tournament, only to fall short. Yet, unlike 2014 and 2015, the Ponies found a way to win Saturday morning, thanks in large part to a 26-point effort from Jerod Boles. That meant Havre, which had already won its first divisional title since 2004, had a chance to win its first trophy at state since that same year.

In the end, it didn’t happen. Havre came up one point short. Yet, the Ponies still made it to Saturday night at the state tournament and with their fun, up-tempo style of basketball, they helped put Havre hoops back on the map.

Warp, who led Class A in scoring at more than 25 points per game, will be missed. So will program stalwarts Boles and Nate Rismon. But as all three players look back on their careers, they can take solace in the fact that they led the resurgence of Havre basketball. Now, it’s up to Curt Leeds and the current crops of Ponies to try and keep them there.

Another exciting development that came from the 2016 postseason was the combined divisional tournaments. Having the combined divisionals worked tremendously and with the boys and girls tournaments of the Eastern A and Western A running simultaneously at two locations, the action was fast-paced and exciting.

Now Class A needs to take it to the next level and that means a combined Class A state tournament. Class AA and Class B already do it and the combined format has proven to be a tremendous success.

And if the Super Divisionals are any preview of what we could expect to see from a combined boys and girls state tournament, than the question is, what are we waiting for?

Not only would a combined state tournament be exciting, it would also make sense. It would reduce travel for both schools and fans and could help greatly with the declining attendance that has been prevalent in Class A in previous years.

Class A got it right with the new divisional format, now it needs to apply that same logic to the state tournament. And if it does, another home run will follow.

Alas, basketball season is over and because of that, this is the perfect time for Havre basketball fans to take a look back at the last three years and take a good hard glimpse — because they were special and there is no guarantee we will see anything like that again, anytime soon.