Blue Ponies look to regroup against Stars

The 2016-17 boys basketball season has been filled with trials and tribulations for the Havre Blue Ponies and with just two weeks left before divisionals, they are running out of time for a turnaround.

Yet, the great thing about high school basketball is that the really important games are at the end of the season, which gives the 3-13 Ponies at least a glimmer of hope. But first, Havre needs some momentum, which can be acquired with a win over Rocky Boy Saturday night inside the HHS gymnasium. Tip-off time is set for approximately 6:30 p.m.

"I think we can," HHS head coach Curt Leeds said of building some late-season momentum. "We just need to start shooting the ball better. We have good shooters. We just need the ball to go in more consistently. If we had shot a higher percentage against Lewistown, that was a game we could have won and a lot of our games have come down to that, us shooting a low percentage."

To counteract that, the Ponies simply need to start making shots. But Leeds said if his team can start fast, it would help.

"I think if we could come out and see the ball going in the hole a couple of times in the first quarter that will give us some extra energy," Leeds said. "That's what happened the first time we played Lewistown (a 60-51 Havre victory) and we ended up shooting a high percentage."

In the first meeting between Rocky Boy and Havre, the Ponies did anything but shoot a high percentage. In fact, the Stars dominated the game from start to finish and rolled HHS 70-42. Havre came into the game fresh off a win over Browning and since that loss, it has still yet to find the win column.

Rocky Boy suffocated the Ponies on the defensive end of the floor and held Havre to 14 first-half points, with six in the first quarter and eight in the second. The Stars on the other hand, scored seemingly at will, notching 17, 19 and 20 points in the first three periods.

With players like Kendall Windy Boy, Kordell Small, Chase Corcoran, Ben Iron Eyes and Jerell Gopher, the Stars have a skilled starting lineup. Windy Boy and Small both scored 19 the first time around against Havre, while Iron Eyes and Corcoran also reached double figures. However, the one thing the Stars don't have is a ton of depth, which has made them play at a slower pace than usual.

"They (Stars) aren't a really deep team," Leeds said. "So I think their coach has realized they can't run up and down the floor all the time, so they aren't playing as up and down as we are used to."

While the season has proven difficult overall for the Ponies, one of the bright spots for Havre has undoubtedly been the play of senior Nate Korb, who is the team's leading scorer at 9.5 points per game. Korb also leads the team in rebounds with 4.4 per night and is second on the team in both steals (20) and assists (23).

Isaac Warp is another player who is having a solid season for the Ponies. He's averaging 8.4 points a night and is making 1.7 3-point field goals per contest. Freshman Tanner Parsons is third on the team in scoring with seven points per game, followed by Ivar Aageson, who averages 6.6.

"Rocky Boy has some good size with the Windy Boy kid," Leeds said. "And we aren't very big so that makes it tough for us to match up with him. And then they surround him with a bunch of 3-point shooters, so if we can get some more buckets, that will help relieve some stress for us defensively, where we don't have to get a stop every single time."

Havre and Rocky Boy will tip at 6:30 p.m. Saturday night. The Ponies will then host Browning Feb. 18 to close the regular season.