Pony girls crush Glendive, lose a heartbreaker to Central at home

It seemed like forever ago that the Havre High girls basketball team had played in the Blue Pony Corral. But Friday night, the Ponies were back in their old stomping grounds, and they ran all over the Glendive Red Devils.

Inside the HHS gymnasium the Ponies cruised to a 57-23 win over the Red Devils, which assured Havre of another Northeast A title.

Havre, which has been on fire offensively of late, wasted little time igniting that fire either. The Ponies started the game on a 16-0 run, then held Glendive to just four points in the second and third quarters combined. By the time that stint was over, the Ponies led 47-10, and the mercy rule was in effect for the Ponies for the fourth straight night.

Yelena Miller led a balanced Havre scoring attack with 14 points, while Kylie Walker scored eight and Sadie Filius chipped in with seven. In all, 12 different Ponies got into the scoring column as HHS improved to 6-0 in conference play.

"I thought we played really well," HHS head coach Dustin Kraske said. "We got nice contributions from the whole team, and that was nice to see."

After taking care of business against the Red Devils, Havre turned its attention to the huge showdown with Billings Central Saturday afternoon in the Corral. The top-ranked Rams and Blue Ponies have had some great games over the years, and Saturday was no different, though the Rams came out on top, 48-43.

"I thought it was a great basketball game and it was fun to be a part of it," Kraske said.

It was a great game, and Havre was a big reason why.

Central led 12-7 after one quarter, and Mya Hansen upped that lead to 20-12 with a 3-pointer in the second. But just when it looked like the Rams would run away from the Ponies, Kylie Walker would connect on not one, but four triples to keep Havre within striking distance at 30-23 at halftime.

"Kyle Walker was really aggressive shooting the ball," Kraske said. "She had a great game for us."

Havre battled in the third, too, but the Rams finished the period on a 7-0 run to lead 39-32 with eight minutes left. The Ponies were nowhere near done, though, and together, Walker and Sadie Filius ripped off seven unanswered points, so with 2:03 left, Havre trailed just 42-40. Hansen answered that run with a quick four points, but when Sydney Wilting scored four straight for the Ponies, they were again down just 46-43 with :14 left. Hansen was too much, though, and she sank two game-clinching free throws, ending what was another great game between the two Eastern A rivals.

"I thought we did a great job defensively tonight, except for a couple fundamental lapses," Kraske said. "And I think we could have made a couple more foul shots, and taken a few more shots when we had open looks. But overall, I thought we played a good game, we played with a lot of maturity tonight. It was just a really good game."

Walker had a huge game for the Ponies, with 14 points, while Yelena Miller came up big again with 13. Loy Waid chipped in with seven for Havre, which lost for just the second time this season.

The Ponies (6-0, 7-2) will play their final road games of the regular season this weekend when they travel to Miles City and Hardin.

Havre 57, Glendive 23

Glendive 6 2 2 13 - 23

Havre 17 14 16 10 - 57

Glendive - J. Litwiller 12, M. Wane 11.

Havre - Alyssa Oliver 4, Sydney Wilting 2, Danni Wirtzberger 2, Lacy Preeshl 4, Kylie Walker 8, Kennedy Hampton 4, Loy Waid 4, Avery Carlson 2, Yelena Miller 14, Sadie Filius 7, Quinn McDonald 4, Britton Paulson 2.

Billings Central 48, Havre 43

Central 12 18 9 9 - 48

Havre 7 16 9 11 - 43

Billings Central - Maria Stewart 5, Lily Bland 1, Isabella Erickson 2, Hailey Euell 3, Molly Melvin 7, Mya Hansen 19, Solei Elletson 11.

Havre - Sadie Filius 6, Yelena Miller 13, Loy Waid 7, Kylie Walker 14, Sydney Wilting 4.

Pony boys fall on the road

The Havre High boys basketball team was on the road this weekend, and things were tough for head coach Walynn Burgess' club.

On Friday night, the Blue Ponies lost a nail biter in a rematch with Glendive, 45-44 as the Red Devils made two free throws with two seconds left in the game to win. The Ponies were close all night, trailing by just one point at halftime, and going ahead early in the fourth. Kellen Detrick paced the Ponies with 14 points in the gut-wrenching defeat. Josh Warp and Clint Owens each chipped in with six as well.

Havre then moved on to a non-conference showdown with third-ranked Billings Central Saturday in Billings Saturday afternoon, but against the rough Rams they couldn't recover, as Central ran away from Havre 61-41. Detrick led the Ponies with 10 points on what was a tough shooting night for HHS.

Havre (5-1, 6-3) will return to the Pony Corral this weekend for games against Miles City Friday night and Hardin Saturday afternoon.

Glendive 45, Havre 44

Havre High 10 15 7 12 - 44

Glendive 12 14 10 9 - 45

Havre - Josh Warp 6, Max Olson 2, Nolan Lotton 5, Josh Currie 3, Isaac Pedraza 3, Kellen Detrick 14, Caden Jenkins 5, Clint Owens 6.

Glendive - Basil Crusafuli 1, Rhett Hoffer 7, Michael Murphy 7, Parker Buckley 24, Max Eaton 4, Tavan Coon. 2.