Owning the Central A: Pony girls sweep

With two conference home games and two more dominant performances, the Havre High girls basketball team strengthened its control of the Central A conference.

The Blue Ponies, who hosted Belgrade and Livingston on back-to-back nights inside the HHS gymnasium, won both games easily, knocking off Belgrade 65-48 Friday and Livingston 57-30 Saturday. With the two wins, Havre is now 10-1 overall and 6-0 in the Central A, ensuring that HHS can finish no worse than tied for first.

"Looking back on both games, I was really happy with our kids," HHS head coach Dustin Kraske said. "I thought we played hard. We did a pretty good job defensively. There are still some things that we need to work on, but we have put ourselves in the best position possible right now."

The game with Belgrade was close to start as Havre led just 12-11 at the end of the first quarter. However, a run early in the second quarter, that included scores by Kaylee Nystrom and Marca Herron, as well as a 3-point play by Naomi Terry, put HHS ahead 24-17. Freshman Kyndall Keller then hit a 3-pointer and scored two layups to help the Ponies build a 37-25 halftime lead.

In the third quarter, Havre's lead got to 20 at one point, but a 9-0 run to end the stanza by Belgrade got the Panthers back within 11. However, two treys from Ceyara Plante in the fourth quarter helped put the game out of reach as Havre won by 17.

Keller, who connected on two threes of her own, finished with a game-high 24 points. Terry added 11 points and Plante also pitched in with nine, while Danielle Wallace had eight and Nystrom had seven. Shania Neubauer led the Panthers with 16 points.

"I thought we did a great job of being patient offensively," Kraske said. "We hit some outside shots and that really spaced things and opened things up for us.

"Belgrade is a good team. They are athletic, and I thought we did a good job of limiting them on the boards," he added. "And I thought our guards did a really good job of taking care of the ball and closing things out at the end of the game."

Against Livingston Saturday, the game was never close. Terry opened the game with two treys and at the end of the first quarter, HHS led 13-2. Then, after a triple by Keller in the second quarter, the Ponies led 21-6, before taking a 29-8 lead into the intermission.

The Ponies led 36-8 early in the third quarter, giving Havre a 28-point lead, its biggest of the game. After three quarters, Havre led by 24 and went on to win the game by 27.

"I thought we did a really good job defensively in the first half," Kraske said. "I thought we came out with a lot of intensity. We gave up some things in the second half and maybe we let up a little bit, but that happens. We still need to do a better job of rebounding and taking care of the ball, so we still have some things that we need to work on."

Terry was the leading scorer for Havre, finishing with 16 points, thanks to four 3-pointers. Keller also contributed with 12 points, while Plante had 10. Both Keller and Plante connected twice on shots from beyond the arc. Danielle Babcox led the Rangers with nine points, while Shania Johnson also managed eight.

The Ponies will be back at home for two more games this week, starting with CMR Tuesday. Havre will also host Malta Saturday.

"We don't always do the best job of preparing for these non-conference games," Kraske said, "which is something I don't do very well. But they should be exciting games and we are looking forward to them."

Havre 65, Belgrade 48

Belgrade 11 14 13 10 – 48

Havre 12 25 12 16 – 65

Belgrade – Shania Neubauer 16, K. Hohenstein 5, B. Christensen 4, G. Weber 8, Krista Brown 10, H. Gee 5. Totals 16 15-21 48.

Havre – Ceyara Plante 9, R. Olson 3, RaYan VandenBos 1, Kyndall Keller 24, Kaylee Nystrom 7, Naomi Terry 11, Marca Herron 2, Danielle Wallace 8. Totals 22 15-23 65.

3-point goals – Gee; Plante 3, Olson, Keller 2. Total fouls – Belgrade 20, Havre 18. Fouled out – Weber.

Havre 57, Livingston 30

Livingston 2 6 15 7 – 30

Havre 13 16 18 10 – 57

Livingston – K. Palmer 2, L. Saarel 2, C. Tecca 4, D. Babcox 9, S. Johnson 8, A. Kokot 4, J. Jesson 1. Totals 11 5-14 30.

Havre – Ceyara Plante 10, RayAn VandenBos 5, Kyndall Keller 12, Naomi Terry 16, Danielle Wallace 10, Kristen Nash 2. Totals 20 7-12 57.

3-point goals – Johnson 2; Plante 2, Keller 2, Terry 4. Total fouls – Livingston 10, Havre 16. Fouled out – none.