Rival Indians, Stars run past Pony boys

The Havre High boys basketball team is hoping to build some momentum near the end of the season heading into divisionals and an upset win over Browning or Rocky Boy this past weekend, would have been a perfect way to do it.

However, despite playing competitive basketball in the first half of both games, the Blue Ponies went 0-2 on their two-game road trip. Browning knocked off Havre 66-47 Friday night in Browning, then Saturday, HHS traveled to Rocky Boy and lost 82-59. The Ponies are now 3-14 on the season and they will finish up their regular season schedule tonight in Lewistown.

"We actually played pretty well in the first half of both games," HHS head coach Curt Leeds said. "We came out and shot the ball well in the first half of both games. In the second half in both games, we started turning the ball over more. Both teams started to pressure us some more and that changed the pace of the game a little bit."

Against Browning, Havre got a stellar performance from sophomore Tanner Parsons, who scored 14 points and grabbed four rebounds in the loss. He also hit twice from 3-point range, while the Ponies as a team finished 3-of-17 from beyond the arc. Havre also finished the game with 22 turnovers. Tysen Sangrey had a solid outing in the loss for Havre, scoring 11 points and pulling down seven boards. Trey Murphy, who hit the other 3-point shot in the game for Havre, wound up with nine points, six rebounds and two assists.

After Browning clinched a sweep over the Ponies, Rocky Boy was able to win its second game of the season over Havre, as the Stars rolled to a 23-point win. Parsons was the leading scorer against the Ponies, finishing the game with 11 points, three rebounds and two assists.

Murphy also finished with 10 points, thanks to a pair of triples. The senior also contributed with five assists, three rebounds and one steal. Junior Austin Delarosa added 10 points and four rebounds. Tommy Brown pitched in with eight points, while Ivar Aageson had six points, seven rebounds, three steals and one assist.

Havre will wrap up its regular season schedule tonight in Lewistown. The Ponies were supposed to play the Eagles Feb. 3, but the game was rescheduled due to bad weather. Tip-off between the two Central A rivals is set for 4.

"I just want to see us put four good quarters together," Leeds said. "We have had spurts where we played good offense and times when we played really, really good defense. It would just be nice for us to play a complete game."

After playing Lewistown tonight, the Ponies will get ready for the Eastern A Divisonal tournament which will be in Billings Feb. 21-24.