Powers Collide: Havre High girls host M-Ettes

The Havre High girls basketball team doesn't always focus intensely on non-conference games. But after a tough home loss and the fact that the Blue Ponies host Malta, the two-time defending Class B state champion, logic tells you, Havre will be up for the next game.

In addition to those factors, there has always been a healthy rivalry between Havre and Malta, but in recent years, it's the M-Ettes, who have dominated, winning six straight games in the series. The Ponies will try to prevent Malta from getting number seven Saturday night inside the HHS gymnasium. Tip-off time is set for 4 p.m.

"Malta is a really good team," HHS head coach Dustin Kraske said. "They have the ability to take away things that you do well. We have that ability to do that, too, we just have to play together both offensively and defensively."

Havre (10-2, 6-0) comes into the game fresh off its first home loss of the season on Tuesday against CMR. The Ponies led most of the way, but struggled to score late and lost the game by nine. Yet getting back on track offensively against Malta, will be no easy task.

The M-Ettes, who are 10-1 on the season, boast possibly the best girls basketball player in the state in Sophia Stiles, who is already committed to play college basketball at the University of Montana. However, she isn't the only standout, as Jada Nicholson is another stellar player and both have helped Malta become a dominant team defensively, allowing just more than 32 points per game.

While Stiles is threat on both the perimeter and to get to the basket, Nicholson causes most of her problems inside. She is also outstanding on the boards and neutralizing her, which Havre will try to do with Danielle Wallace and Kristen Nash will be key as HHS also possess a strong all-around defense and has allowed opponents to score just 38.5 points per game.

Defense may be a strength for the Ponies, but their offense has been pretty good in its own right. Before scoring just 39 points against CMR, Havre had scored an average of 60 points in its previous five games, all wins. HHS also has two of the top scorers in Class A in Naomi Terry, who scores 14.67 per night and freshman Kyndall Keller, who is scoring 13.1, including a total of 44 points in her last two outings.

Havre has also gotten strong play recently from both Wallace and Nash inside on the offensive end and Ceyara Plante, as well as Marca Herron off the bench, give the Ponies multiple threats from 3-point range. Herron owns Havre's top shooting percentage, as she has made 42 percent of her threes, while Terry is at 35 percent, Plante is at 34 and Keller is at 32. HHS shoots 37 percent from the field overall and 32 percent as a team from behind the line.

"We just need to execute the offense and try not to do to much," Kraske said. "We just need to get back to playing our kind of basketball. This will be a good chance to test ourselves a little bit against a very good team."

The matchup inside the HHS gymnasium features Havre, the fourth-ranked team in Class A and Malta, the third-ranked team in Class B. Things will tip off inside the HHS gymnasium Saturday at 4 p.m.