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The Havre High boys basketball team was hoping to get its first home win of the season last Friday night against Browning, but unfortunately for the Blue Ponies, the Indians had other ideas.
The Ponies were competitive for much of the night, but Browning still controlled things most of the way, maintaining a double-digit lead for most of the game on its way to a 65-41 win inside the HHS gymnasium. Havre is now 2-8 on the season and 0-3 in the Central A conference.
"Overall, I didn't think we played too bad," HHS head coach Curt Leeds said. "I thought that even though we lost both of these games (Browning and Rocky Boy), I thought that we got better. We got it down to about 10 points there in the fourth quarter, so we at least came back a bit. Then they hit some really good 3-point shots and that was kind of it."
The Indians, a former member of the Central A, went after their former conference rival right from the start, scoring the first eight points of the game before Jacob Irvin scored a bucket to make it 8-2 Browning. The Indians outscored HHS 9-5 the rest of the way and took a 17-7 lead at the end of the opening stanza.
In the second quarter, Browning quickly pushed its lead to double figures; however, a 3-pointer by Trey Murphy kept Havre within striking distance at 24-13. Then, a trey from Irvin cut the lead to 24-16, before Browning closed the first half on a 12-5 run to go ahead 35-21 at the intermission.
The two teams traded baskets for much of the third quarter, but 3-pointers late in the third quarter by Austin Delarosa and Tanner Parsons kept the Ponies within 11, 45-34, which was the score with eight minutes left in the game.
Yet, in the fourth quarter, the Indians caught fire from deep and were able to extend the final margin to 24 points, outsourcing HHS 20-8 in the final stanza. It was the fifth consecutive loss overall for the Ponies. Havre is now 0-5 at home this season.
"I thought we had moments of playing pretty dang good basketball," Leeds said. "Some of the threes that they hit were open and we didn't communicate, but some of them were contested and they just knocked them down. Browning has a nice team. They have some good size, they have athleticism and they have some kids that can shoot the ball."
Irvin led all scorers in the game with 13 points in the loss for Havre. Murphy connected on a couple 3-pointers to finish with eight points and Parsons wound up with six. Tyree Whitcomb led the Indians with 12 points. Derek Loring also contributed with 10 and Brandon Aimsback had eight, as well as a pair of blocked shots.
The Ponies will be back in action this weekend, on the road against Livingston Friday and Belgrade Friday.
"I know that it might not look like it in terms of wins," Leeds said. "But I really do think that we got better over these last two games. We still have some things that we need to correct, and it might not look like we accomplished as much as we did, but we get better."
Browning 65, Havre 41
Browning 17 18 10 20 - 65
Havre 7 14 13 8 - 41
Havre - Ivar Aageson 4, Thomas Brown 2, Austin Delarosa 4, Kellen Detrick 2, Jacob Irvin 13, Austin Jones 2, Trey Murphy 8, Tanner Parsons 6.
Browning - Nano Stiffarm 9, Derek Loring 10, James Gillham 4, Ethan Running Crane 5, Peyton Crawford 4, Justin Bird 3. Deon Mad Plume 5, Tyree Whitcomb 12, Latrail Bullchild 5, Brandon Aimsback 8.
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