IT'S PONY PERFECT

GREAT FALLS - Like two prize fighters, the Havre Blue Ponies and Hardin Bulldogs battled it out for the Class A state championship Saturday night. But despite landing some punches, it was Havre, not Hardin, which scored the knockout.

The biggest blows came from Kaylee Nystrom and Marca Herron, two Havre seniors who combined for 15 points in the fourth quarter of Saturday's championship game. Those points, including one 3-pointer by each player, sealed a 42-35 win for the Ponies Saturday night at the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls.

The victory completed a remarkable run for the Ponies, who finished the season 24-0, winning their second Class A state championship in the past five years.

"I love these kids, I am proud of them," HHS head coach Dustin Kraske said. "The city of Havre was here. Our community supports us, our parents are behind us, the kids know their roles, we're really excited."

"I feel overwhelmed," Herron added. "I feel a rush of emotions, but we deserved it, we worked hard for it. I just knew at the end of the game that this was ours."

Herron certainly played a key role in making sure the state title ended up going to Havre. After three quarters, in a defensive slugfest, Havre led Hardin by the slimmest of margins entering the last eight minutes, with the score 24-23. Both teams were struggling to score, as the defensive pressure on both ends was amped up all game.

However, in the final stanza, Herron and Nystrom took over.

It started in the final minute of the third quarter, when Karissa DuShane of Hardin had a basket taken off the board because Herron took a charge and drew the offensive foul. A few seconds later, she made a free throw at the other end to put Havre in front 24-23.

In the fourth, after another free throw, Herron scored on an up-and-under to push the Ponies advantage to four. Herron added another point on the foul line, her fifth in a row, putting Havre up 28-23. Less than a minute later, Havre would land one of its biggest blows yet.

Following a defensive stop, the ball went ahead to Danielle Wallace, who found a streaking Nystrom wide open in the corner. The defensive standout launched the 3-pointer and when it ripped through the net, the stands erupted, as Havre took a 31-23 lead with just 5:22 remaining.

"Holy cow, I just had to go up with it," Nystrom said. "I just knew I had to be confident in myself. I trusted it to go in and it did."

Nystrom's dagger was the first big blow landed by Havre in the fourth quarter, but it wouldn't be the last. After Nystrom hit two free throws to push the Pony lead to 33-25, it was Herron's turn to try a big three and with 4:05 left in the game, she delivered, connecting from beyond the arc to put the Ponies in front 36-25. It also capped a 19-4 Havre run, which started in third quarter as Hardin scored just seven points in the first 12 minutes of the second half.

"I was a little nervous because I was a little too open," Herron said. "I thought to myself I better make this. But once I caught the ball, my feet were in rhythm and I just let it fly."

Herron, who missed a game-tying 3-pointer with a minute left in the Class A semifinals in 2015 against Hamilton, scored nine in the fourth quarter, including the 3-pointer she said was the biggest of her career.

"I would say so," Herron said. "That is a little payback for Hamilton I would say.

"They mean everything to our program and it shows," Kraske said of Nystrom and Herron. "They are the heart and soul of our team basically, those two along with our other seniors. They work hard and they get other kids in the gym. They have been a huge part of our success."

Despite being down by 11 points, Hardin refused to go down without a fight. The Bulldogs trimmed the lead to five points with 1:28 left, but two free throws from Herron, a free throw from Kyley Verploegen, another from Nystrom and two from Kadia Miller iced the win for HHS.

"It feels pretty good," Verploegen said of the win. "We have worked hard for four years, all summer, and it just finally paid off. It was a rough game. Things didn't go our way some of the time, but we found a way to push through."

It certainly wasn't easy, especially in the beginning for the Ponies. After seeing each other two weeks ago in the Eastern A Divisional championship game, also won by Havre, both the Bulldogs and Ponies knew what to expect and both defenses were ready. Wallace and Kyndall Keller got Havre on the board early. Keller finished the first quarter with four points, but five in the opening quarter from Arena Plenty gave Hardin a 9-8 lead.

"It was rough, but it was a good game," Wallace said. "It was a lot of pressure. The noise was kind of scary, but we worked through it. It feels great. We worked really hard for this."

Keller made two free throws early in the second quarter to put Havre up 11-9, but another bucket from Plenty tied it at 11-11. The Ponies then scored five of the next six points, including the only field goal in that span, a put back by Verploegen, which made it 17-12 Havre with 3:19 left in period. Yet, a 6-0 run to close the quarter by the Bulldogs, gave them an 18-17 lead at the break, sending the Ponies into halftime trailing for just the second time in 24 games.

"It was tough and I was nervous at some points," Keller said. "But we kept our cool and kind of got the momentum back."

Havre did eventually get the momentum back, but it didn't happen right away in the third quarter. Aiyanna Ereaux of Hardin got a hoop and was fouled by Miller, which was the third on the sophomore. Ereaux missed the free throw, but the Bulldogs still had their biggest lead of the game, 21-17.

Facing its largest deficit of the state tournament, Havre responded. First, Nystrom found Wallace inside for two. Then, around a minute later, Keller ripped down an offensive rebound and scored in traffic to tie the score, 21-21, with 4:14 in third. It was also the start of the 19-4 run that allowed the Ponies to take control of the game.

"I think our senior leaders do a great job," Keller said. "They did a great job of helping us keep our cool."

Keller, an All-State sophomore, finished with a game-high 12 points, 10 of which came in the first half. She also grabbed nine rebounds and blocked a shot. Herron was right behind her with 11 points, to go along with four rebounds and three assists. Wallace, another senior, added seven points and four boards, while Nystrom finished with six points, five rebounds and three assists.

"They are a good team," Nystrom said of Hardin. "They came out really hard. They are really athletic and they came out with more energy and we had to match that."

While key buckets delivered the knockout punch to the Bulldogs, Havre won the game and the state championship with defense. The Ponies held Hardin to 15.9 percent from the field, limiting the Bulldogs to 7-of-44 from the field and 3-of-18 from 3-point range. HHS dominated Hardin, but did something similar to Browning Friday night in the semifinals.

The Indians scored a couple of quick buckets early, but then Keller and the Havre defense took over. A 3-pointer from Keller gave the Ponies an 8-4 lead after the first quarter. HHS then outscored Browning 17-1 in the second quarter to take a 25-5 halftime lead. Led by Keller's 25 points, Havre won easily, 53-29, setting up its state-title showdown with Hardin.

Defense was a huge part of the win over Browning, too, as Havre limited the Indians to just 23.4 percent from the field. Over three days in the Class A state tournament, Havre limited teams to 33 points a game. And in the semifinals and championship game, against Browning and Hardin, the Ponies allowed their opponents to make just 18-of-92 shots for a shooting percentage of 19 percent.

"What I appreciate about these kids is they let us coach them and we coach them hard," Kraske said. "They take it and it's nothing personal, we are trying to get better for the Ponies and they bought into it. Not that we haven't in the past, but the highest level that this team could perform was a state championship. We kind of knew that and they performed at that level. Very impressive."

The win was the second consecutive state championship for Havre at the Four Seasons Arena. The Class A state tournament was last played there in 2014, when the Ponies beat Hamilton for the crown.

"We love playing in the barn," Kraske said.

With back-to-back state titles, it certainly seems like they do.

24-0 AND STATE CHAMPS AGAIN IN THE FOUR SEASONS ARENA

Havre 53, Browning 29, SF

Browning 4 1 8 16 - 29

Havre 8 17 8 20 - 53

Browning: Danaiya Polk 4, Lacie Goss 2, Olivia Hall 4, Taylor Jordan 3, Ronnal Jordan 4, Dulci Skunkcap 11, Tatum Running Crane 1. Totals: 11 6-18.

Havre: Ryen Olson 1, Kyndall Keller 25, Kylie Walker 2, Kaylee Nystrom 1, Kadia Miller 5, Marca Herron 9, Katie Wirtzberger 2, Danielle Wallace 4, Loy Waid 2, Kyley Verploegen 2. Totals: 18 15-24.

3-pointers: Polk, Keller, Miller. Fouls: Browning 20, Havre 17. Fouled out: T. Jordan.

Havre 42, Hardin 35, 1st

Hardin 9 9 5 12 - 35

Havre 8 9 7 18 - 42

Hardin: Ivery Fitzler 3, Sharmayne Hardy 1, Karissa DuShane 10, Aiyanna Ereaux 9, Bergan Realbird 2, Arena Plenty 7, Marie Five 3. Totals: 7 18-24.

Havre: Kyndall Keller 12, Kaylee Nystrom 6, Kadia Miller 4, Marca Herron 11, Danielle Wallace 7, Kyley Verploegen 2. Totals: 11 18-32.

3-pointers: Fitzler, DuShane, Plenty, Herron, Nystrom. Fouls: Hardin 27, Havre 20. Fouled out: Hardy, DuShane, Verploegen.