Ice Hawks host MAHA Bantam state tournament

The Havre Ice Dome has seen a lot of competitive hockey take place throughout the winter season, but recently it hosted the MAHA 14U Bantam state hockey tournament Friday through Sunday, where the Havre Ice Hawks looked to make some noise.

In the end, though, the Ice Hawks lost all three of their games in the Havre Ice Dome, falling to the Bozeman Ice Dogs 9-1 Friday afternoon, losing to the Missoula Bruins 5-1 Friday night and lastly, falling to the Billings Bulls 4-2 Sunday morning for fifth-place. At the end of the tourney, Havre took sixth place.

When it comes to the 14U state tournament as a whole, Ice Hawks head coach Jared Boyce was proud of how far his team had come since the start of the season.

"We started out sluggish and slow against Billings," Boyce said. "But the goal is development at this age. We're trying to put things together so that the in next couple years they get to play in the high school level and actually compete. Development is the main goal, so this was a good weekend of development."

The game against the Bulls was a nice game to kick off the morning. Havre and Billings opened the bout with some heavy defensive play, but then the Bulls took an 2-0 lead over the Ice Hawks after Trent Wagner and Riley Anderson scored consecutively, which gave them a 2-0 led over Havre after the first period.

Billings added another goal early in the second period to extend its lead 3-0, which was the score going into the break, but Trayden Riley responded with a score of his own and assist in the third period to cut into the Bulls' lead. Then, with 1:13 left in the game, Ciaran Courtnage made it into the net to bring the Ice Hawks within one score.

But in the end, a goal by Austin Bonebright in the final minute sealed the win for Billings, who finished the tournament in fifth place. Score-wise, it has looked to be a tough season for the 14U Bantam Ice Hawks, but Boyce saw a lot improve over the year, too.

"The game against Billings was a little disappointing," Boyce said. "However, in light of what we're going for, it was exactly what we wanted. More competition was the goal. With our team specifically, we've come so far since the beginning of the year. There's numerous things I could point out, but the quickness of our decisions versus when we started the year has been a joy to watch as a coach and to hopefully implement some of that, too."

The early losses in the tournament to Bozeman and Missoula, who would meet in the future of the tourney, were tough for the young Havre team, but the development and progress the 14U Ice Hawks have made since the season has been beneficial for the present and the future of Havre hockey.

Now, Havre hockey has come to an end for the year, as the players across the many age levels, from bantam to high school, await the next season on the ice and another chance at some great development and possible state hardware in their sights.