Pony girls thump Eagles; HHS boys lose a close one

It's been a busy week for the Havre High girls basketball team, but Monday night, the Blue Ponies knocked off Lewistown 60-34 to win their third game in four days. It also kept their hopes of an unbeaten regular season alive.

The Ponies scored 15 points in the first quarter to grab a seven-point lead and led 31-18 at halftime before cruising to the 26-point victory. Havre (17-0, 6-0) completed its Central A conference schedule with a perfect 6-0 record and tonight in Great Falls, Havre will play CMR with an undefeated regular season record on the line.

"No, that's not a goal," HHS head coach Dustin Kraske said "The best thing these guys can do, is keep playing together the way that they are doing right now. Everybody is team, teamed up and that's the important thing. The kids have bought into that and that's more impressive than anything."

While Havre was supposed to play at Lewistown back on Feb. 3, the game was postponed due to bad weather. But when the two teams met Monday night, it was kind of a coming-out party for freshman Kylie Walker, who led the Ponies with a game-high 17 points.

The freshman connected on a 3-pointer in the first quarter, as Havre built a 15-8 lead, then she didn't score again until the fourth quarter, when she made two more triples and scored 14 of Havre's last 19 points. Joining her in double figures was Kyndall Keller, who finished with 13 and Danielle Wallace, who had 10.

"Our kids did a good job and got us off the bus ready to go," Kraske said. "Kylie Walker put on a show. She scored 17 points and she did a really nice job."

The Havre girls had a successful night in Lewistown, but unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for the Havre boys, who fought hard but lost by the score of 44-35. The Ponies hung with Lewistown throughout the game and even led the game late in the third quarter, 24-22. Yet, the Eagles closed the third quarter on a 10-2 run to go up six. Havre didn't have the firepower to come back in the fourth against the Eagles, who closed the game on 23-10 run to win, despite great efforts from seniors Jacob Irvin and Trey Murphy.

Irvin had a big night, scoring a team-high 11 points, with nine of them coming the third quarter to help keep the game competitive. Murphy also did his part to keep Havre in the game, scoring all nine of Havre's points in the fourth quarter, as he knocked down three shots from downtown. The loss wrapped up the regular season for Havre (3-15, 0-6). The Pony boys will be in action next week at the Eastern A Divisional Tournament in Billings.

Tip-off time for tonight's game between the Havre girls and CMR is set for 7.

Havre Girls 60, Lewistown 34

Havre 15 16 10 19 - 60

Lewistown 8 10 6 10 - 34

Lewistown - G. Butcher 3, Hannah Hayes 3, J. Kolstad 4, H. Potter 9, M. Mangold 3, Anna Zimmer 12.

Havre - Kyndall Keller 13, Kylie Walker 17, Kassidy Compton 2, Kadia Miller 4, Marca Herron 7, Katie Wirtzberger 2, Danielle Wallace 10, Loy Waid 3, Kyley Verploegen 2.

Lewistown 44, Havre 35

Havre 7 5 14 9 - 35

Lewistown 10 9 13 12 - 44

Havre: Tanner Parsons 4, Jacob Irvin 11, Tommy Brown 5, Ivar Aaqeson 2, Ausin DeLarosa 2, Tysen Sangrey 2, Trey Murphy 9.

Lewistown: Tanner Trafton 21, Jake Clinton 4, Wes Jameson 3, Jayce Philipps 2, Jaden Graham 8, Landon Henderson 6.