Pony girls out to keep dominating the Central A

After sweeping the first half of its conference schedule, there is no question that the Havre High girls basketball team is in control of the Central A race. This weekend, with Belgrade and Livingston coming to town, the Blue Ponies can practically finish it.

The Ponies, who are 4-0 in league play and 8-1 overall, host Belgrade tonight in a matchup of the top two teams in the Central A. HHS also plays Livingston Saturday at 2 p.m.

With two wins, the Ponies will clinch at least a tie for the top spot. Yet, Havre can strengthen its position with a win over the second-place Panthers.

“Belgrade is kind of like Browning,” Kraske said. “They are tough and they are scrappy and they rebound the ball really well and they are really athletic.”

When Kraske mentions Belgrade’s athleticism and its rebounding ability, he’s not kidding. The Panthers, who are 5-5 overall, are a dominate force on the boards. Belgrade currently has 334 total rebounds, 180 of them on defense and 154 coming on offense. That’s 33.4 rebounds per game and it’s 4.4 more than Havre, which averages 29.

Yet the Panthers' lack of the offensive explosiveness is not like the Ponies, who scored more than 52 points per game. Belgrade averages 47.5 and is led by top scorer Shania Neubauer, who averages 10 points and five rebounds per game. Gabby Weber is another threat with an average of eight points, along with Krista Brown, who averages 7.8 points and 5.3 rebounds.

Overall, the Panthers aren’t a great shooting team, they make just 32 percent of their shots. But beyond the arc and at the line they struggle even more. Belgrade shoots just 17 percent from the 3-point range and just 56 percent from the charity stripe, which will make it difficult for the Panthers to overcome a Havre defense that allows just over 36 points a game.

On the other end of the floor, the Ponies come into tonight’s game averaging 52.6 points per game. HHS is shooting 37 percent from the floor and connecting on 32 percent of its shot from beyond the arc. Leading the way for Havre is senior Naomi Terry, who is sixth in Class A in scoring with 16.33 points a game. Freshman Kyndall Keller is also among at the top-20 scorers in Class A with an average of 11.33. Ceyara Plante (8.3 PPG) and Danielle Wallace (7.5 PPG) have also been key contributors for the Ponies, along with Marca Herron who scored 5.9 a game off the bench.

“I just like how patient we have been offensively,” Kraske said. “And I think we share the ball really well. Sometimes we are a little too passive and make an extra pass or two that we shouldn’t, but I have been really happy with our play offensively.”

After taking on the Panthers in a battle for first place tonight, Havre will host Livingston Saturday. Havre beat Belgrade the first time the two teams met 57-38, but it was nothing compared to the 58-16 pounding HHS dished out to Livingston the first time around.

However, the Rangers (0-2, 0-7) may have a different look this time around as a number of players have been promoted from junior varsity to varsity.

“I know that Livingston moved up some kids,” Kraske said. “They are playing some younger kids, and I don’t know much about them. I think the younger kids are better than the kids that were playing.”

While the Rangers will rely on some new players, one that has been on varsity the entire season is Claree Tecca, who is the leading scorer with a scoring average of 9.9. Yet Abby Kokot is one player that’s been moved up and is averaging 7.6 points. Ryleah Floyd is the only other player that averages more than five a game (5.5).

Regardless of new players or playing the team a second time around, Kraske said his team won’t deviate much from it’s motion offense and man-to-man defense.

“No. That’s what we do,” Kraske said. “We try to shadow kids to certain spots and if you can beat that, then good for you.”

Havre will start its Central A doubleheader tonight against Belgrade at 6. The Ponies will play against Livingston Saturday at 3:30. Both games will be inside the HHS gymnasium. HHS is also home Tuesday.