Ponies stung by Panthers, Rangers

It was a wild weekend inside the HHS gymnasium for the Havre High boys basketball team as the Blue Ponies almost pulled off a comeback one night, then fell victim to one the next.

The Ponies, who hosted Belgrade Friday night, lost that game 59-49, when their late rally fell short. But Saturday, HHS suffered an even more difficult defeat, as it surrendered a five-point lead with 20 seconds left to fall to Livingston 52-51 Saturday.

"We just made too many mistakes at the end of the game," HHS head coach Curt Leeds said. "Turnovers and fouls really cost us."

Holding a five-point lead with less than 20 seconds remaining, Havre appeared to have a win wrapped up against Livingston in a critical Central A matchup. However, the final 14.1 seconds turned into a nightmare. First, Livingston's Brock Peterson was fouled shooting a 3-pointer and made all three free throws, getting the Rangers within two at 51-49 with 14 seconds left. Following a timeout, Livingston forced a turnover and took a timeout of its own to set up one final shot.

Down two with the ball, the Rangers inbounded the ball to Jakim Ricketts, who pulled up just before the 3-point line and sank a shot at the buzzer to give Livingston a come-from-behind win. The loss was particularly painful for Havre, considering it led by eight midway through the fourth quarter.

Making matters worse for Havre is what the loss means in the Central A standings. A win over Livingston would have kept the Ponies in third place. But now at 2-4, HHS finds itself in fourth and with a lot of work to do now to avoid a play-in game for the Eastern A Super Divisional.

"We really needed that win," Leeds said. "Now we have to get both games against Lewistown on the road and Browning here at home and that will get us to 4-4."

Things looked good for Havre early against the Rangers. Livingston grabbed an advantage right away, but thanks to 11 first-quarter points from Nate Korb, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to end the first, HHS led 17-16. In the second quarter, Havre went up four after a trey by Tanner Parsons, but by the half, Livingston had trimmed the lead to 29-28.

The third quarter got off to a promising start for the Ponies, as Ivar Aageson drilled a three, then got a steal and a score minutes later to put Havre up four. By the end of the period, after holding the Rangers to just four points, HHS found itself up 39-32.

Isaac Warp made a 3-pointer minutes into the fourth that put Havre up eight at 42-34 and the Ponies led 46-38 with 4:26 to go. But from that point, Havre wouldn't make another field goal and the Rangers closed the game on a 14-5 run to steal the win.

Korb was the high scorer for Havre in the loss, finishing with 14 points. Aageson ended the game with 13 and Parsons had 11. Ricketts led all scorers in the game with 17 points. Peterson also contributed with 14 for Livingston.

Against Belgrade Friday night, the start for Havre wasn't so great. The Panthers connected on five first-quarter 3-pointers, three from Brock Salsbury to grab a 22-10 lead. By halftime, the lead had grown to 37-16.

Belgrade continued to pour it on in the third quarter and at one point, led 41-18 and entering the fourth, the Panthers lead was 43-24. Yet, three's from Warp and Trey Murphy, as well as buckets from Korb and Jake Sedahl helped the Ponies chip away at the lead.

Then, after a 3-pointer by Aageson capped a 7-0 run by Havre, the Ponies trailed just 52-45 with 56 seconds left. Moments later, Parsons scored an old-fashioned 3-point play, making the score 54-48 Belgrade with 46 seconds left. However, Havre wouldn't score again from the field and some clutch free throws from Dawson Fowler put the game on ice.

Fowler scored a game-high 17 in the win for the Panthers, while Salsbury scored 16. Korb was the only double-digit scorer for Havre with 10. Warp also had nine.

"We just didn't come out with a lot of energy against Belgrade," Leeds said. "And that's kind of been our team. Sometimes we come out and are ready to go and sometimes we aren't."

Havre will travel to Great Falls to take on CMR Tuesday, followed by a home game against Malta Saturday night.

Livingston 52, Havre 51

Livingston 16 12 4 20 – 52

Havre 17 12 10 11 – 51

Livingston – J. Waddell 4, B. Peterson 15, M. Rosberg 2, D. Purkett 2, R. Floyd 4, D. Walker 3, J. Ricketts 17, A. Parker 5. Totals 13 23-30 52.

Havre – Tanner Parsons 11, Nate Korb 14, Isaac Warp 9, Bobby Personett 2, Ivar Aageson 13, Jake Sedahl 2. Totals 15 16-21 50.

3-point goals – Peterson 2, Ricketts; Parsons 2, Korb, Warp, Aageson. Total fouls – Livingston 18, Havre 19. Fouled out – Aageson

Belgrade 59, Havre 49

Belgrade 22 15 6 16 -- 59

Havre 10 6 8 25 -- 49

Belgrade – D. Fowler 17, T. Mounts 3, E. Page 5, T. Layman 6, M. Walker 7, B. Salsbury 16, H. VanWinkle 5. Totals: 19 14-19.

Havre – T. Parsons 8, N. Korb 10, I. Warp 8, B. Personett 3, R. Bakke 6, I. Aageson 5, J. Sedahl 4, T. Murphy 5. Totals: 17 10-15.

Three point goals: Mounts 1, Page 1, Walker 1, Salsbury 4, Warp 2, Personett 1, Aageson 1, Murphy 1.