2016-17 Havre High Basketball Previews: New-look Blue Pony boys aiming high

Change is nothing new in high school sports. In fact, it’s something that every team has to go through. So as the Havre High boys basketball team gets ready for the start of its season, having gone through some dramatic changes, it can take solace in the fact it’s not alone.

Certainly, many other teams lost seniors to graduation, but there may be no team that lost more than the Blue Ponies, which graduated three key seniors from last year’s team and what head coach Curt Leeds estimated was about 85 percent of his team’s scoring. However, despite the graduation of Dane Warp, Jerod Boles and Nate Rismon, three stalwarts in Havre basketball, Leeds is optimistic about the upcoming season.

“I don’t think we are that much different from everyone else,” Leeds said. “Everybody lost people from last season. You look at Livingston, they are going through the same thing we are. Browning lost about eight kids from last year’s team. So that’s just something you have to go through every year. But I like our team and we have the same expectations that we have had here for the past three seasons.”

While it’s hard not to focus on the amount of scoring the Ponies lost from last year’s team, which finished fourth at the Class A state tournament, Leeds was quick to point out, that defense was just as important to his team’s success, even if it went overlooked.

“Last year, I don’t think people realized how good we were defensively,” Leeds said. “We ended up second in the state in Class A for points allowed behind Dillon. So that was a huge part of our success and that’s going to be a big focus for us this season as well.”

Warp, Boles and Rismon may all be gone, but Leeds still returns a number of players with starting experience and some others who played significant minutes. Senior Nate Korb has started each of the past two seasons for Leeds and he returns, as does Jacob LaBrie, who at 3.6 points per game, is the top scorer back for HHS.

Isaac Warp is another player that saw extensive minutes last season and he will be a starter for the Ponies, along with junior Ivar Aageson. Leeds will also rely on other seniors to contribute such as Michael Loftus, Ryan Bakke, Bobby Personett and Jake Sedahl. Junior Jacob Irvin will also see minutes in reserve.

“I think that we have a pretty deep team,” Leeds said. “Most years, I usually only play like seven or eight guys and I this year, I think because we have seven seniors, I am going to be able to play nine guys consistently.”

No matter who is in the lineup for HHS, one of the big keys has always been its ability to shoot from 3-point range. Last season, the Ponies finished third in all of Class A in terms of made 3-pointers, with a total of 160 and Leeds said that will be a strength of his once again in 2016-17.

“I think that we are going to have at least four, but maybe five guys out there who can shoot the ball on the floor at all times,” Leeds said. “We have some kids that have really worked hard on shooting the ball and if they are going to work on it like that, we are going to take those shots.”

With other teams such as Browning and Livingston also reloading, Havre should have a good chance to be among the top teams in the Central A standings again, which will be important for seeding for the Eastern A Divisional at season’s end.

“Conference games are really important with this new format,” Leeds said. “You want to make sure that you are in the top four so you can avoid a play-in game and ideally you want to be in the top two or three so you can have a good seed going in.”

While the Ponies will get things started at home this weekend against Sidney and Laurel, in the Central/Eastern A Tip-Off tournament, Havre’s first big games of the season will come Dec. 16-17 when Havre will play Belgrade and Livingston on the road, back-to-back.

The Havre boys will then play three of four games at home in conference play, hosting Lewistown (Jan. 7) before paying a visit to Browning Jan. 13. HHS will then host Belgrade and Livingston Jan. 20-21. A road trip to Lewistown Feb. 4 and a home game against Browning Feb. 18 will close Central A play for HHS.

The non-conference schedule will be similar to year’s past, but not quite the same. In order to make room for the Eastern A Tip-Off, the Ponies had to cut a game with both CMR and Great Falls. The matchup against the Bison comes at home, Dec. 22.

It’s a big change for the rivalry and it’s unclear how the move from two games to one, between Havre and Great Falls High will affect the Ole Goat Trophy, although in the words of Leeds, “I think the Ole Goat is done.”

Beyond that, Havre will battle Fairfield, Rocky Boy and Malta in home-and-home matchups. The Ponies will take part in the Eastern A Divisional in Billings starting Feb. 22. The Class A state tournament will be in Butte this year, starting March 9.