Blue Ponies kick the Cowboys

After holding a 12-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, the Havre High boys basketball team allowed the visiting Miles City Cowboys to cut the lead to one point with just over four minutes remaining. It seemed fitting that on senior night, the Blue Ponies turned to senior Josh Warp in his final home game to take back momentum. Warp responded by banking a 3-point shot off the backboard to extend Havre's lead to four.

"I'm a senior captain so I feel like I'm put in a position to make those shots," Warp said. "I've practiced it a thousand times so it's good to come see it into fruition.

That three started a 14-3 run by the Blue Ponies in the game's final four minutes to secure the 63-51 victory Friday night inside the Havre High gymnasium. Despite allowing the Cowboys to get back into the game, Havre head coach Walynn Burgess expressed pride in his team for not letting it slip away.

"They knew they wanted to win tonight and they knew that they had to take it to a different level and they just locked in those last four or five minutes on that defensive end," Burgess said.

Burgess acknowledged the effect that senior night had on the team but noted that it did not affect his players' focus.

"It's senior night and sometimes that gets a little emotional and you can feel different feels out there," Burgess said. "We were pretty locked in at the task at hand and we did a good job on that defensive end, really locking in and making sure that we did a good job finishing that game out."

Throughout most of the game, the Blue Ponies demonstrated how locked in they were. Havre took an early 8-0 lead thanks to a pair of threes from senior Max Olsen. The Blue Ponies increased their lead throughout the first half as they went into halftime with a 34-22 lead. The lead would have been greater if it weren't for a half-court heave by Miles City's Dalton Polesky at the halftime buzzer. Polesky led all players with 27 points in the game.

The Blue Ponies continued to control the game through the third quarter. A common occurrence throughout the game's first three quarters for Havre was senior Kellen Detrick getting to the free-throw line. He led all players with 10 free throw attempts and eight free throws made. Detrick tied with Warp for the team lead with 16 points for the game.

Miles City scored 11 straight points to open the fourth quarter, including eight points from Polesky, to make it a close game before Havre pulled away at the end. Detrick credits the veteran leadership and experience on the Blue Ponies for holding on for victory.

"We've been in situations like that before and we were just able to handle it," Detrick said. "They did a good job coming back, but we had to put the foot down."

It was the second meeting between the two schools this season as they played previously on Jan. 8. That game had a nearly identical final score as Havre pulled out a 64-51 win in Miles City.

Friday's win improved the Ponies' record to 7-4 overall and 6-1 in league play, good for first place in the Northeast A conference. The win also got Havre on the right track after two straight losses on the road to Glendive and Billings Central. Miles City's overall record fell to 4-6 and they reside in fourth place in the Northeast A conference with 2-4 league record.

Havre was scheduled to play Hardin Saturday night before COVID-19 issues within the Bulldogs' program forced the game to be canceled. Havre's season finale against Malta on Feb. 19 was also canceled due to COVID-19 issues. Now, Havre looks to finish its regular season with a two-game road trip against Browning and Lewistown next weekend.

While Burgess is focused on getting his team ready to finish the season strong, he also plans on just appreciating the remaining time he has with his seniors.

"You've been around them for a few years now and you get close to them, you start enjoying the relationships with them that you get. So I'm just really trying to enjoy this last little ride that we have with them," Burgess said. "I truly believe those kids have really bought into going to work every day. I hope that they take that away with them when they get older and have jobs and families and they got to go to work every day."

For now, seniors such as Warp will just soak in their final home game at Havre High.

"It's surreal," Warp said. "Four years playing here flew by. Wouldn't have it any other way."

Havre 63, Miles City 51

Miles City 12 10 15 14 - 51

Havre 18 16 15 15 - 63

Miles City - Aiden Cline 0, Ryder Lee 10, Zach Welch 2, Dalton Polesky 27, Logan Muri 3, Jayden Venable 9.

Havre - Josh Warp 16, Max Olsen 6, Nolan Lotton 4, Isaac Pedraza 3, Kellen Detrick 16, Caden Jenkins 14, Clint Owens 4.

Pony girls get big road wins

For the second time this season, the Miles City Cowgirls were no match for the Havre Blue Ponies.

Friday night in Miles City, Havre raced past the Cowgirls, who kept things close early on, 61-42. Yelena Miller continued her fine play of late, scoring 21 points for the Ponies, while Kylie Walker added 10.

As exciting as Havre's road win Friday night was, the Blue Ponies got an even bigger one Saturday afternoon, when Havre traveled to rival Hardin, and came away with a 44-40 win.

As usual, the Ponies and Bulldogs played yet another close game. Hardin got the better of Havre three weeks ago in the HHS gymnasium, but the Ponies led start to finish Saturday, and got a game-high 16 points from Miller in the win.

The road sweep put Havre at 7-0 in the Northeast A and 9-2 overall. Havre is scheduled to play Browning Friday night but that game is in doubt due to COVID-19. The Ponies then wrap up the regular season at Lewistown Saturday.