HHS boys send seniors out with a win over Fairfield

It was a big weekend for the Havre Blue Ponies, who may have struggled in Browning, but did anything but struggle at home on senior night.

When it came to the home game against Browning back in January, Havre kept it close, but this time around, the Ponies headed to Browning for the second matchup, falling to the Indians 65-47 on Browning’s senior night. But, Havre followed up the Friday loss with a senior night-win over Class B Fairfield Saturday 81-58 in the Havre High Gymnasium.

HHS head coach Walynn Burgess knew that Browning would be bringing it for their senior night, not to mention the aspect of how tough road games are.

“Browning just came out and played really hard,” Burgess said. “It was their senior night. We knew they were gonna come out and play really hard and they forced us into some bad situations. Give it up to them; they were ready to play and we didn’t respond the best. But it was good for us to face a little adversity like that getting closer to tournament time.”

The Indians kicked off the first quarter with a 13 point performance to lead early, followed by adding another 13 points in the second stanza, while the Ponies fought back, dropping 14 points, but still fell a bit behind 26-22 at the break.

Browning followed up the great start and put up 19 points in the third period and 20 in the fourth to stay ahead, while the Ponies combined for 25 points in the second half. In the end, HHS still fell to the Indians to split the season series with them. Mason Rismon led Havre with 17 points, followed by Jake Huston’s 10 point performance.

Then came the matchup against the Fairfield Eagles, where Burgess got to watch his team put up a great game for the last home game of the season, especially since it was senior night.

“Senior nights are always the hardest,” Burgess said. “Your emotions are a rollercoaster and you never know what to expect. It was just cool to see those kids go out and you could see that they put in the time in the offseason to do the things they do on the court. It’s bittersweet. You couldn’t ask for a better group from those five seniors.”

After a celebration for those five seniors, Huston, Rismon, Tyrel Kjersem, John South and Quinn Springer, the five boys started off the game for Havre. Huston and Kjersem kicked it off with a 6-0 run, but the Eagles responded quickly to take the lead 9-6. The teams exchanged the lead a couple more times, but Fairfield started on top 18-16 at the end of the first quarter.

Huston was glad to start down at first, as he felt that it did the team some good in the end.

“I felt like we needed it as a team,” Huston said. “We didn’t start off strong and eventually we came right back in and kept it going.”

And kept it going Havre did, with junior Kellen Detrick and Huston taking back the lead, followed by a 12-0 run later in the second stanza to jump ahead 37-22. The Eagles dropped another basket, but Josh Warp and Detrick added two more baskets to lead 42-25 at halftime.

After the slump in the first quarter, players like Kjersem were happy to see that they came together and took the lead back on that special Saturday.

Then came the third period, where Rismon and Detrick went off, dropping multiple baskets for Havre, while Fairfield pushed to stay in the game with Keeley Bake at the helm. But Warp sunk a trey at the last minute to extend Havre’s lead to 65-40 going into the fourth.

Rismon put up three treys in the third period for Havre, which helped the Ponies extend their lead tremendously. At the end of the day, Rismon was glad to see his team rally around their success Saturday.

“It felt good,” Rismon said. “It definitely got our energy going. I was just hoping that when I took the shots that they went in. Everybody got behind it and it just got us going.”

The fourth quarter saw a lot of action from Springer and South, who both put up a fair amount of points to help advance the Blue Ponies’ score. South would put up two field goals in the fourth, while Springer dropped a free throw as the last Havre point in the game.

A handful of players put up big points against the Eagles. Huston led the charge with 18, followed by Detrick with 17, while Warp and Rismon both put up 16 points for the Ponies.

In the end, HHS grabbed the win on senior night and players like Springer and South were glad about how they played in the matchup, as well as what they have been able to be a part of this year.

“We came out and did all the little things right,” South said. “I’m just so happy we got the final home win of the season.

“I love this team,” Springer said. “I just got to come in every day and push these guys. I wouldn’t want to do anything else with anyone else. That’s all I could ask for. I just hope these guys get better every day.”

With that, Havre will wrap up its regular season with a road game against the Golden Eagles Friday in Lewistown.

Browning 65, Havre 47

Browning 13 13 19 20 - 65

Havre 8 14 14 11 - 47

Browning – Blayne DeRoche 27, Rylee Spoonhunter 12, Chris Reevis 6, Luke Juneau 1, Justin Burd 4, Deion Mad Plume 6, Latrell Bull Child 5, Riley Cromwell 2, Jordan Calflooking 2. Totals: not reported.

Havre – Josh Warp 6, Jake Huston 10, Tyrel Kjersum 4, Mason Rismon 17, Kellen Detrick 5, Clint Owens 5. Totals: not reported.

Havre 81, Fairfield 58

Fairfield 18 7 15 18 - 58

Havre 16 26 23 16 - 81

Fairfield – Gaice Blackwell 4, Conor Murray 7, Keeley Bake 19, Guidry Giles 8, Daniel Faith 7, Owen Cartwright 4, Brayden Kolwyck 2, Kaelob Flores 9. Totals: 21 10-18 58.

Havre – Josh Warp 16, Jake Huston 18, Tyrel Kjersem 6, Mason Rismon 16, Kellen Detrick 17, John South 4, Clint Owens 3, Quinn Springer 1. Totals: 28 11-16 81.