Blue Pony girls push past Red Devils in Eastern A opener

If you are going to win championships, at times, then you are going to have win games when you aren’t at your best and that’s exactly what the Havre High girls basketball team needed to do Wednesday against Glendive in the quarterfinals of the Eastern A Divisional.

The two teams met in the afternoon in Billings at the Rimrock Auto Arena at the Metra and after some struggles, especially in the first half, Havre eventually pulled away for the 46-35 win, which was the Ponies 43rd in a row. Havre will play in the semifinals Friday at 3:30 p.m.

“We didn’t play our best,” HHS head coach Dustin Kraske said. “But it’s the first game of the tournament and we found a way to win so that’s what matters. I think we got some of those jitters out of the way and I would expect us to come back and play much better Friday.”

In the opening stanza, Havre got off to a slow start offensively and after a 3-pointer by Bailey Pearcy, Glendive, which beat Sidney earlier Wednesday to get into the quarterfinals, led Havre 13-9.

Midway through the second quarter, Havre and Glendive were still tied at 17-17, when a hoop by Kyndall Keller sparked an 11-0 run for the Ponies and helped them build a 30-18 lead at the half.

Glendive continued to battle in the third quarter and by the end of that period, the Red Devils had shrunk the Pony lead down to seven points at 35-28. With the game still in doubt in the fourth quarter, Kadia Miller knocked down a key jumper and Havre used a 6-0 run to build a 44-31 lead with just a few minutes left to go. The game was competitive throughout, but in the end the Ponies walked away with a 46-35 win.

Keller and Miller each had 12 points for the Ponies, as they tied Jilian Litwiller of Glendive with a game-high 12 points. Sadie Filius contributed with nine points for Havre, while Jessa Chvilicek pitched in with six. Karsen Murphy was the second-leading scorer for Glendive and she finished with six points in the loss.

“I think that we forget sometimes that Keller, Miller and Kylie Walker were the only ones that really played a lot last season,” Kraske said. “So some of these kids are playing in divisionals for the first time and so I don’t know if it was that or rust or what, but we didn’t play our best. It is what it is, but hopefully, we will come out and play better Friday. That is what I would expect.”

Havre will play the winner of Hardin and Livingston, who will play this morning. The other semifinal will feature either Billings Central or Belgrade against Laurel who knocked off Miles City in order to reach the semifinals in the bracket opposite Havre. The championship game will be Saturday night at 6.

Havre 46, Glendive 35

Glendive 13 5 10 7 - 35

Havre 9 21 5 11 - 46

Glendive - Jillian Litwiller 12, Karsen Murphy 6, Thea Robson 5, Savannah Toms 4, Bailey Pearcy 4, Kasidi Walker 2, Kendra Kaufman 2.

Havre - Kyndall Keller 12, Kadia Miller 12, Sadie Filius 9, Jessa Chvilice 6, Kylie Walker 4, Katie Wirtzberger 2, Loy Waid 1.