Pony boys corral the Panthers

When you play back-to-back conference games at home, it's imperative that you get at least one win but Saturday night against Belgrade, the Havre High boys basketball team was just minutes away from a second straight home loss.

After losing to conference leader Livingston Friday night at the HHS gymnasium, the Blue Ponies found themselves trailing Belgrade at halftime Saturday, 24-22 and down 37-36 with just a few minutes left in the game. That constitutes crunch time and when the Ponies needed a big bucket, they turned to Jake Huston, who delivered more than once in the fourth quarter of a 46-41 Havre win.

"We knew that we needed to get this win," Huston said. "And we just had to step up and make some plays and we were able to do that, on both ends of the floor."

Havre didn't run a play specifically for Huston, but when he caught the ball at the top of the key, with his team down one, he made a nifty move to the basket, scoring two points, while also drawing a foul. After sinking the free throw, Havre led 39-37 with 4:15 remaining in the fourth quarter.

A few possessions later, with the Ponies clinging to that same two-point lead, Huston, who scored 23 points Friday night against Livingston, drilled a 3-pointer from the corner, giving the Ponies a 42-37 advantage.

"Jake is always a sparkplug for us," Burgess said after the win Saturday. "He scored 23 points for us against Livingston and he hit a couple of big shots for us tonight (Saturday). We have a lot of confidence in him. He's a fun kid to coach."

Huston's 6-0 run put the Ponies in a great position to win the game, However, in order to wrap up its fifth win of the season, Havre had to stave off one last run by Belgrade. First, Easton Page scored, trimming the lead to three. Then another layup cut the lead to one with 50 seconds left in regulation. Belgrade attempted to force a steal but eventually fouled Mason Rismon, who hit two clutch free throws.

The two makes put Havre in front 44-41, which allowed the Panthers one final chance to tie. Belgrade was able to get an open look from beyond the arc for Page, its leading scorer, but it clanked off the front iron and once Kellen Detrick secured the rebound and hit two free throws at the other end, the game was over.

Rismon reached double figures for the third time in his last five games, finishing with a team-high 13, which included three treys. Huston added 11 with six of those points coming in the final few minutes. Detrick also pitched in with eight. Page scored a game-high 18 for the Panthers in defeat. Tate Bowler also added 10.

"It was big for us to get this win," Burgess said. "Our defense really clamped down in the second half. I think we held them to 17. We really stepped up and defended at the end of the game."

Havre started the game shooting the ball well and scored 16 points in the first quarter thanks to triples by Austin Delarosa, Rismon and Huston, which helped the Ponies build a 16-13 lead after one. Belgrade responded with a quick start of its own in the second stanza, opening on a 9-1 run to build a 22-16 lead, its largest of the night. But thanks two a couple of scores inside by Tysen Sangrey, Havre went to intermission down just 24-22.

When the game resumed after halftime, it was Havre's turn to go on a run and after buckets by Huston and Detrick gave HHS the lead, two 3-pointers by Rismon in a short span capped a 12-4 spurt and gave the Ponies their largest lead of the night at 34-28.

Belgrade battled back and got within two at the end of the third, then got a trey from Page early in the fourth which put them up 37-36, setting the stage for Huston.

"This was an important game that we really wanted," Huston said. "And it took all of us working together to get it."

Prior to taking on Belgrade, Havre played host to Livingston Friday night and fell to the Rangers for the second time this season. The game was tight early with the Rangers leading 14-11 after the opening quarter, but a 20-6 run in the second put Livingston in front 34-17 at the half and the Rangers never really looked back.

The Ponies opened the third quarter on a 7-0 run, which shrunk the deficit down to 10 points. Rismon later hit a 3-pointer that cut it down to nine but it wouldn't get much closer. Huston connected on a trey early in the fourth that got the Ponies within eight, but they never got any closer in a 62-51 loss.

Brendon Johnson had a stellar night for Livingston with 26. John Waddell also contributed with 12. Huston led the way for Havre with 23. Detrick added eight and Delarosa finished with six.

Havre (5-6, 2-3) will play two non-conference games this week, as Great Falls High and Malta will come to HHS gymnasium Friday and Saturday night.

Livingston 62, Havre 51

Livingston 14 20 9 19 - 62

Havre 11 6 14 20 - 51

Havre: Jake Huston 23, Thomas Brown 5, Tysen Sangrey 4, Kellen Detrick 8, Austin DeLaRosa 6, Mason Rismon 5.

Livingston: Matt Natley 7, Brendon Johnson 26, Danner Pickett 0, Morgan Rosberg 8, John Waddell 12, Danner Purkett 5, Sage McMion 4.

Havre 46, Belgrade 41

Belgrade 13 11 8 9 - 41

Havre 16 6 12 12 - 46

Belgrade - Tate Bowler 10, Jake K. 3, Easton Page 18, Cooper V. 2, Riley Burman 2, Dawson Logan 6.

Havre - Jake Huston 11, Tommy Brown 2, Mason Rismon 13, Kellen Detrick 8, Austin Delarosa 5, Tysen Sangrey 4, Clint Owens 3.