Perfect Ponies: Havre beats CMR

The Havre High girls basketball team had one last tune-up to play before the Eastern A Divisional Tournament next week in Billings and, Tuesday night in Great Falls, the Blue Ponies go their toughest test so far this season, on the road, against CMR.

Despite trailing by six points at the half, 25-19, Havre rallied and did so with its trademark defense in the second half. When it was all said and done, the Ponies outscored the Rustlers 29-17 in the second half to win the game 48-42. Havre ended the regular season with a perfect 18-0 record.

“It was a wonderful game,” HHS head coach Dustin Kraske said. “We had to battle back. It was great. I was totally pleased. It was a team effort. Kyley Verploegen came in off the bench and did a great job. Danielle Wallace really came on in the second half and Kadia Miller defended like she always does. Then, you had Marca Herron, Kyndall Keller and Kaylee Nystrom, who do what they always do. So it was a lot of fun.”

The Ponies travelled to Great Falls one night after making the trip to Lewistown. In fact, it was Havre’s fourth road game in five days. Yet, that didn’t stop HHS from grabbing an 11-5 lead at the end of the first quarter. However, in the second, CMR put together the best offensive quarter anyone has all season against Havre.

The Rustlers scored 20 points in the eight-minute stretch, and by halftime they had turned a six-point deficit into a six-point advantage. But in the second half, the Ponies did what they have down to a lot of teams this season — they clamped down defensively. Havre limited CMR to eight points in the third, while scoring 15 points of its own to grab a 34-33 lead going into the fourth quarter.

In the final stanza, Havre managed to score 14 points and at the same time, HHS held CMR to just nine points, allowing the Ponies to hang on for the win. Kyndall Keller scored a team-high 17 points for Havre, which also got 10 points from Marca Herron and nine from Danielle Wallace. On the other side, Addison Gardner poured in 19 for the Rustlers. Kyra Willis also pitched in with 13.

“This weekend and these games just help us a ton,” Kraske said. “We played Browning, a tough, tough team. We played in Rocky Boy, which is another tough team, then we play at Lewistown, which is a tough environment. Then we go to CMR and play a great game, so this was the best pre-tournament thing we could get ourselves into and kudos to Dennis Murphy, who did the schedule who put us in a position to learn and do that.”

Havre (18-0) will be in action next week at the Eastern A Divisional in Billings. The tournament will run Feb. 21-24.

Havre 48, C.M. Russell High 42

CMR 5 20 8 9 – 42

Havre 11 8 15 14 – 48

CMR – Allie Olsen 0-0 4, Kayci Edwards 0-0 2, Addison Gardner 4-4 19, Kyra Willis 2-2 13, Brynn Klinefelter 2-2 4. Totals 14 8-10 42.

Havre – Kyndall Keller 7-7 17, Kaylee Nystrom 1-1 7, Marca Herron 1-2 10, Danielle Wallace 1-2 9, Kyley Verploegen 1-2 5. Totals 18 11-14 48.

3-pointers – Gardner 3, Willis 3; Herron. Total fouls – CMR 15, Havre 13.