Hi-Line Athlete Profile: Marca Herron, Havre High Basketball

For Marca Herron, basketball has always been a part of her life. She grew up around it and over time, she grew to love it.

That’s because she grew up watching and playing with her three older sisters, who have all gone on to have successful roundball careers. It started with Kacy Herron, who played at Big Sandy and eventually at Rocky Mountain College. It continued with Josi Herron and Molly Herron, who each starred at Big Sandy just as Kacy did, and went on to play collegiately at the University of Great Falls.

Molly currently plays for UGF and is a junior. She played in every game for the Argos last season and recently, her sister Marca signed an NAIA letter of intent to continue her hoop’s career in Great Falls as well.

“I am pretty excited about it,” Marca Herron said. “I really like the campus there and I am really familiar with the basketball program. I feel really comfortable with the girls there, they are really accepting, so I am looking forward to it. It will be nice to just focus on playing basketball and school. It will make the next two years a lot less stressful”

While the run of college basketball players in the Herron family is rare, it’s not surprising, not with how much basketball they play.

“I definitely wouldn’t have gotten as into basketball if it wasn’t for them,” Herron said. “Just being in the gym with them on weekends and all the time, you just kind of pick it up.”

While all three of her sisters played in Big Sandy, Marca is attending Havre High and playing for the Blue Ponies. As a junior, she is entering her third season as a varsity player after seeing extensive playing time as both a freshman and sophomore.

Herron has played key minutes for Havre as they qualified for the Class A state tournament in each of the past two seasons. Last year, in the Eastern A Super Divisional, where the Ponies finished third, Herron averaged 6.5 points per game and shot 50 percent from 3-point range. For the season, she averaged 5.1 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. She also averaged nearly a steal per game and 1.67 assists.

This season, Herron and the Ponies look like a strong bet to contend for another berth in the state tournament and in order to put themselves in good position for the divisional tournament, this weekend’s games against Belgrade and Livingston will be key.

Havre will need to get through the Eastern A Divisional again to make it to state, but teams are seeded according to how they do in conference play. The Ponies, who are part of the Central A, have just eight conference games, so the two upcoming are important.

Herron and the Ponies started their season off with two wins a week ago against Sidney and Laurel, and before Havre heads to Belgrade to start their road trip, the Havre Daily News caught up with the junior for five questions.

HDN: What is your favorite thing about playing basketball?

Herron: “Just being able to do what you want. It makes you want to be creative. It’s hard to explain.”

HDN: The Havre girls basketball team does a lot of work in the offseason, what has made your team have such a strong commitment to that?

Herron: “I think it has a lot to do with our coaches. They want to help us get better and that helps a lot.”

HDN: What is your favorite thing about playing for coach Dustin Kraske?

Herron: “He’s a fun-loving guy. He will be hard on you one second, but you know that he loves you and he pushes you to be a better player and person.”

HDN: Are you a fan of basketball, do you have a favorite team or player?

Herron: “Yeah. I like watching Duke. I am a big Duke fan. When I was little I always watched Steve Nash. He was my favorite player. Anytime the Suns or the Lakers were playing, after he got traded, I idolized him. I really liked his passing.”

HDN: You guys have had a lot of success the last two seasons and have lots of experienced players, what is your goal for this season?

Herron: “First, we just want to win the conference, then go on and do well at the Divisionals and try to make it to the night games Saturday night at state.