Pony girls look to keep rolling at home

It is not often that a weekend of basketball only contains one game, but Saturday, the Havre High girls basketball team will face off against a familiar Northeast A rival for the first of the last two conference games this season.

The Blue Ponies will not have a game tonight, but the Havre High Gymnasium will see them take to the court against the Sidney Eagles at 5:30 p.m. Saturday. The game versus the Eagles will be a rematch, with Sidney looking to get revenge on Havre for the loss back in January.

But there is not too much at stake for HHS throughout the rest of the regular season, as the Ponies have already clinched their first Northeast A title in history, meaning Havre seals a No. 1 seed in the Divisional Tournament in late February, too.

And to claim their first Northeast A title, Havre put in some big work alongside a tough team to compete with on the hardwood.

The senior leadership on the Blue Ponies is one of the first aspects that stand out. Starters Kyndall Keller, Katie Wirtzberger and Kadia Miller have been a big impact for the offensive attack, while Sam Oliver and Jessa Chvilicek give it their all on the court, as well. Keller is once again the top scorer in Class A, averaging exactly 20 points per game, while Miller scores eight. Not only do the seniors bring about an excellent model of leadership, but they exhibit an offensive prowess that makes a difference on the court.

But there are other offensive standouts who put in work on the court, too. Sophomore Sadie Filius and junior Loy Waid have been stellar alongside the seniors offensively. Often times, Filius is one of the point leaders for Havre, as well. She averages 10 points per outing, while Waid scored seven and grabs five boards per night.

Defensively, junior Kylie Walker and Filius have been intense, often pressuring the shooter and getting them to turn the ball over back into the Ponies' hands.

Overall, HHS has a wide variety of talent on both sides of the ball that spreads across the team. Even so, conference games will always bring about tough moments for any team.

In the case of the Eagles, they currently sit at 4-10 overall and 3-3 in Northeast A play, with one of those losses coming from Havre. Sidney will be looking for some revenge against the Ponies and to do it in the Havre High Gymnasium would be a nice way to get a boost in conference.

The Eagles boast a good number of seniors, too. Zoe Morrill, Lexi Nelson, Maddie Peters. Karissa Martinez and Cassidy Larson make up the senior experience that has helped lead Sidney throughout the season so far. For any team, having a good group of seniors can make a big difference on the hardwood. In the end, these seniors will look to assist the Eagles in making some noise on the road against HHS. On top of that, Sidney could gain another conference win to hopefully boost its seeding in the Northeast A.

At the end of the day, Havre will look to gain another Northeast A win on the season by beating the Sidney Eagles Saturday at 5:30 p.m. in the Havre High Gymnasium. The Blue Ponies will close out their home schedule with games against Browning next Friday night, and what figures to be an emotional senior night when the Ponies take on the Fairfield Eagles next Saturday night.