Panthers, Rangers top Blue Ponies

The Havre High boys basketball team went on the road this past weekend, hoping to recover from an 0-2 start to the season.

But for the Blue Ponies, the trip didn't go as planned, as HHS dropped both games Central A Conference games, falling to Belgrade 63-34 Friday night, followed by a road loss to Livingston Saturday 46-38. Havre is now 0-4 on the season.

The problem against Belgrade was turnovers. The Ponies fell behind early 17-9 against the Panthers, but then a two-point second quarter and 25 turnovers for the game, doomed Havre. By the end of the third quarter, the Panthers had pulled their starters and they were leading the game by the score of 51-24.

"We had a problem with turnovers and we had some lapses on defense," HHS head coach Curt Leeds said. "Part of the problem, is that we gave them a lot of easy points in transition because we had so many turnovers. We tried some new things on offense and there were some mistakes there, but most of the time, we didn't even get a chance to do much on offensively because we turned it over so much."

Belgrade, which got 12 points from Dawson Fowler, 11 from Hayden Van Winkle and 10 from Brock Salsbury, started fast, scoring 17 in the first quarter and 18 in the second to blow the game open. Jacob LaBrie led Havre with 10 points in the loss. Nate Korb and Isaac Warp each added eight.

After losing to the Panthers, Havre was hoping to rebound against Livingston, in another Central A matchup. But despite having the lead for most of the game, the Ponies once again fell short.

Against Livingston, it was the Havre defense that controlled things early, limiting the Rangers to seven points in the first quarter and just four in the second as HHS built a 20-11 halftime lead. In the third quarter, Livingston chipped away, outscoring Havre 12-7, to climb within four at 27-23. But in the final stanza, the Rangers offense overwhelmed the Ponies. Livingston scored 23 points, matching its output for the first three quarters. Havre could only muster 11 points, in what was its highest-scoring quarter and in the end, the Ponies lost by eight.

Jakim Ricketts led the way for the Rangers with 16 points in the win, while Ivar Aageson paced Havre with nine. Ryan Bakke added eight for the Ponies. Korb finished with seven and LaBrie contributed with six.

"I didn't think coming into the season, that we would be having the trouble that we are with turnovers," Leeds said. "I didn't think we would be shooting 25 percent from the field either. But that just means that we are going to have to work a lot harder. We are going to have to work on our fundamentals."

The Ponies (0-4) will have a chance to get the win column against Malta Tuesday. Havre will play the Mustangs, on the road, with game time set for 7 p.m. Leeds said it will be another test for his team and another chance to get better.

"Malta for some reason always plays Havre tough," Leeds said. "Last year, I thought we had the better team and they beat us twice. So I expect it to be difficult. But it will give us a another chance to see who we are. We may need to make some changes and start playing a different way, which we already have, but hopefully we can start making some shots. If not, we are going to have to change our strategy a little bit."

Belgrade 63, Havre 34

Havre 9 2 13 10 - 34

Belgrade 17 18 16 12 - 63

Havre: Nate Korb 8, Jacob LaBrie 10, Isaac Warp 8, Bobby Personett 3, Ryan Bakke 2, Ivar Aageson 3.

Belgrade: Dawson Fowler 12, Trey Mounts 2, Easton Page 7, Matt Walker 2, Brock Salsbury 10, Spencer Gordon 1, Hayden Van Winkle 11, Trey Layman 6, Austin Edwards 6.

Livingston 46, Havre 38

Havre 10 10 7 11 - 38

Livingston 7 4 12 23 - 46

Havre - Nate Korb 7, Jacob LaBrie 6, Isaac Warp 3, Bobby Personett 2, Ryan Bakke 8, Ivar Aageson 9, Michael Loftus 3.