Pony girls crush Eagles; HHS boys fall on the road

After their senor night victories, the Havre High basketball teams aimed to close off the regular season with a win against a former Central A, now Northeast A rival, the Lewistown Golden Eagles.

The Blue Ponies took the trip down to Lewistown to play the Eagles in the Fergus High Gymnasium Friday night, with two different outcomes. First, the HHS girls beat Lewistown 65-24, but the Pony boys fell 74-66 afterwards. In the end, HHS split the weekend on the road.

The boys started off their game strong, putting up multiple baskets to get the game flow going in the right direction. The Ponies continued to fight hard to stay ahead, but Lewistown started to reverse the momentum to cut Havre's lead, only down by two 25-23 after the first quarter.

The boys, under head coach Walynn Burgess, may not have ended the season with a win, but HHS put up a big fight throughout the entire bout.

The Blue Ponies went on the rise once again early in the second stanza, but the Eagles started to control the flow and flatten Havre's momentum in the middle of the period. Then, HHS picked up their flow once again to add more points and keep the lead 45-37 at halftime.

After the break, Lewistown came out hot and dropped quite a few baskets to cut into Havre's lead, while the Ponies pushed to stay in top, rising some more. The Eagles stagnated in the middle of the third, while HHS gained more momentum, but the teams would be tied 56-56 going into the final eight minutes.

The fourth quarter saw Havre start strong once again, making buckets to stay in the game, yet Lewistown continued to push, resulting in the teams being tied 64-64 with four minutes remaining. Then, Bryce Graham drove to the basket for two, while Grayden Sanders capitalized on a missed extra point from Graham to get an extra two instead. In the end, the Ponies fell just short.

Junior Kellen Detrick led Havre with 22 points and two 3-pointers Friday, followed by senior Mason Rismon with 16 points and five treys. The Ponies had a total of 22 rebounds, 13 assists and seven steals, as well.

The season may not have ended the way Burgess wanted it to, but he and the team are looking forward to the next challenge that lies ahead, the Eastern A Divisional Tournament.

But before the boys played, the girls grabbed their last win of the regular season with a big win over Lewistown. The final win gives the Ponies an undefeated record for Northeast A play and good looks for the Eastern A Divisionals.

HHS head coach Dustin Kraske and his team made some noise to close off the season and are set on a great path for the future once again.

The win over the Golden Eagles started off right, with seniors Sam Oliver and Kadia Miller dropping quick baskets, while junior Kylie Walker sunk a 3-pointer. Meanwhile, junior Loy Waid and sophomore Sadie Filius added some field goals to Havre's score. Lewistown pushed back but was down 14-11 after the first quarter.

The second stanza was a big one for the Ponies, as they dropped 28 points within the eight minutes before the end of the first half. Kadia Miller racked up more baskets, Walker sunk another trey, Waid put up three more field goals and Oliver kept up the pace, while holding the Eagles to just five points in the stanza to lead 42-16 at the break.

After intermission, Waid and Katie Wirtzberger were the only two Ponies to put up baskets, while Lewistown was not able to score in the third period, giving Havre a slightly bigger 46-16 lead going into the final eight minutes.

In the fourth quarter, Avery Carlson and Walker both added threes to the scoreboard, while Kadia and Yelena Miller combined for nine points. Quinn McDonald and Britton Paulson added some field goals for the Blue Ponies, as well. In the end, HHS grabbed the win and went home undefeated in conference.

Kadia Miller and Waid both put up 13 points to lead the girls, while Walker followed with 11 points.

Next up is the Eastern A Divisional Tournament at the First Interstate Bank Arena at the Metra in Billings Wednesday to Saturday. The pony boys will open the tournament with a first round matchup against the Park Rangers in game three Thursday at 11 a.m., while the girls will face off against the winner of game one between Park and Miles City Thursday at 3:30 p.m. in game five.

Lewistown 74, Havre 66

Lewistown 23 14 19 18 - 74

Havre 25 20 11 10 - 66

Lewistown – Carson Weeden 9, Luke Clinton 9, Gage Clinton 12, Bryce Graham 4, Nolan Fry 3, Jalen Robinson 2, Grayden Sanders 12, Royce Robinson 23. Totals: 28 11-14 74.

Havre – Josh Warp 9, Jake Huston 6, Tyrel Kjersum 5, Mason Rismon 16, Kellen Detrick 22, Clint Owens 8. Totals: 21 13-17 66.

Havre 65, Lewistown 24

Lewistown 11 5 0 8 - 24

Havre 14 28 4 19 - 65

Lewistown – Steph Olson 6, Taylin Trafton 6, Libby Jenness 2, B. Weinheimer 3, A. Ross 2, Kylie Zimmer 3, Emily Kolstad 2. Totals: 9 3-4 24.

Havre – Sam Oliver 9, Kylie Walker 11, Loy Waid 13, Avery Carlson 3, Kadia Miller 13, Jessa Chvilicek 2, Sadie Filius 2, Katie Wirtzberger 3, Quinn McDonald 2, Britton Paulson 2, Yelena Miller 5. Totals: 20 21-8 65.