Chris Peterson Column: I'll always remember 2018 because of the Blue Pony girls

It’s absolutely insane that 2019 is just a few days away. This year, like so many others, has just flown by and I am betting the next year will go by even faster than the last.

That just seems to be the way the world works. Maybe that is why as one year ends, we tend to look back at what happened in the previous year, over 365 days, seemingly before we can move onto the next one.

Well, when I look back at 2018 from a local sports perspective, there is really only one thing that stands out to me and that is the Havre High girls basketball team.

Now, don’t take my words out of context. I am not saying the Blue Ponies girls basketball team was the only standout team from 2018. That would be foolish. Just look at all the success along the Hi-Line in the last calendar year. The Havre girls won the Class A state championship, but the Box Elder girls did the same thing in Class C. The Bears were a great team in their own and like the Ponies, quite historic.

The Box Elder girls did something their team hadn’t done in 20 years and with players like Lilly Gopher and Joelnell Momberg, as well as Cecilia Vielle and many others, it really was a team for the ages. Head coach Joel Rosette is also one of the best in the business and if you need proof, just consider that his club has played for the Class C state championship in two of the past three seasons.

The Box Elder girls were great, however, the Blue Ponies reached a level that is really hard to match. Led by head coach Dustin Kraske, the Ponies didn’t just beat teams — they dominated them and in the state tournament, their defense was off the charts. In the state championship game against Hardin, Havre held the Bulldogs to 15.9 percent from the field. Browning shot just 24 percent against Havre and in the first half of their Class A semifinal, the Indians made just 10 percent of their field goal attempts.

Havre didn’t just dominate teams defensively, it imposed its will, and the Ponies level of excellence at that end of the floor was beyond impressive. Numerous times throughout the season, teams went entire quarters without scoring against HHS or without making a single field goal. Havre was not only talented; it was tenacious.

What made the Ponies so great is that they never seemed satisfied and most of the time, it seemed like they were competing more against themselves than the competition. They were competing against perfection and not the kind of perfection that comes with a 24-0 record. No, I mean perfection in the sense of playing the perfect kind of basketball, doing the right things and executing on an extremely high level. When the game is played like that, it’s beautiful and there is no doubt that the Ponies’ brand of basketball was often worthy of that description.

The expectation wasn’t just to win — it was to be great and the 2017-18 girls basketball team proved equal to that task.

But while that team is one that sticks in my mind, there is one moment from their run that will forever stick with me, too, and that’s the 3-point shot from Kaylee Nystrom.

People may not remember now, but heading into the fourth quarter against Hardin, Havre only led by one point, 24-23. A win seemed far from a sure thing. The state title game was a defensive struggle and every single point was tough to come by. So when Nystrom got ready to a shoot a three from the corner with her team up five and only a few minutes left, the stakes couldn’t have been higher.

Ironically, Nystrom was always known for her defense but in the biggest game of her life, the play that will live on is the 3-pointer she made, the one that sent the Four Seasons Arena into a frenzy.

Make no mistake, that shot was a turning point in that game. If Nystrom misses, maybe Hardin gets the rebound scores and suddenly, it’s a one-possession game. Instead, the Bulldogs found themselves down by eight and the rest was history.

What made it even better, though, was the way it happened because it was textbook basketball. A rebound, a fast break, an assist, and a 3-pointer. Two All-State players, Kyndall Keller and Danielle Wallace touched the ball on that fast break before Nystrom. It would have been easy and understandable for either to drive to the basket or force a shot. Instead, they made the right play — they passed. And after spotting up and shooting in perfect rhythm, Nystrom sank the biggest shot of her life, which was arguably the biggest shot in the history of Havre basketball.

It was an incredible moment and one I will never forget. It was just one 3-point shot but at the same time, it was much more than that. And that’s why despite a lot of great moments, such as Box Elder winning state or important stories like the retirement of coaching legend Scott Filius when I think of 2018, the Havre High girls will always stick out in my mind.

To put it simply, that Havre High girls basketball team was legendary and along those same lines, so was Kaylee Nystrom’s shot.