Pony girls beat Laurel in season-opening thriller

In their first game since winning the state title back in March, the Havre High Blue Ponies got everything they could handle from Laurel in their season opener Friday night at Armory Gymnasium.

The Locomotives took an early lead and they battled the Ponies throughout the night. However, Havre was able to survive the slugfest and come out the other side with a 50-47 victory to start the season.

"We played well at times, we played poorly at times and we gutted it out at the end and I'm proud of our kids," HHS head coach Dustin Kraske said. "I knew it would be a dogfight. We're lucky that we got to play them and see where we're at."

The Locomotives came out strong to start the night. On their first possession, Alyse Aby nailed a 3-pointer to give Laurel the lead. An Emma Timm jumper then extended Laurel's lead to 5-0 less than a minute into the game. Avery Carlson got the Ponies on the scoreboard with a 4-2 personal run. But Aby scored three straight points to give Laurel a 10-4 lead.

Carlson and Yelena Miller made some free throws to cut their deficit to three but the Locomotives controlled the rest of the quarter to take a 14-7 lead into the break. Kraske believes Havre's slow start happened because they were still figuring things out, but he felt like they eventually got things sorted.

"A couple kids are trying to figure out what we're doing. I think the coaching wasn't very good early," Kraske said. "I think it was those two things. I think we're going to be fine. It was that we didn't quite have them ready to go the way we should."

Kyanna Jarvis made a jumper for the Ponies to start the second quarter but Laurel responded with a 7-2 run for a 21-11 lead with about five minutes left in the half. But the Ponies fought back into the game thanks to the play of Carlson and Miller. On their 10-0 run, Carlson scored four points and Miller scored six to tie the game for the Ponies.

"We're just really good teammates to each other and we build each other up," Carlson said about the team's ability to rebound from the slow start. "When we do that, we're able to come out of any slump."

However, Timm made a layup and a free throw to give the Locomotives a 24-21 lead heading into halftime. After the break, Havre's Lacy Preeshl made a jumper to cut the deficit to one. The Locomotives responded with a 4-0 run to increase their lead to five halfway through the third quarter.

The Ponies responded with a 9-2 run to take their first lead of the game. Preeshl got the run started with an offensive rebound that she converted into a layup. After a Laurel score, a Sadie Filius 3-pointer and Carlson jumper tied the game, 30-30. Miller then continued her strong play in the post with an offensive board that she turned into a bucket for the lead with just over two minutes left in the third.

Over the final few minutes of the third, the Ponies and Locomotives exchanged the lead. Timm hit from deep to retake the lead for Laurel and Aby connected on a free throw to increase the lead to two. Carlson then responded with a 3-pointer to give Havre a 35-34 lead. But in the closing moments of the quarter, Kaitlyn Dantic made a shot from beyond the arc to give Laurel a 37-35 lead at the end of the quarter.

The teams continued to go back and forth through most of the fourth quarter. Havre was finally able to retake the lead when Carlson converted an offensive rebound into a score and one free throw to make it 45-44 with just over three minutes left in the game. But after a free throw from Wendland, a layup from Aby tied the game again with just over two minutes left.

A few moments later, Carlson again came through for the Ponies as she made both of her free throw attempts to give Havre a 48-46 lead late in the game. Carlson finished the night making 11 of her 13 free throw attempts.

"I just try to clear my head and just know it'll go in," Carlson said about her free-throw shooting in the close contest.

Timm made a free throw of her own to cut the deficit to one point with 59 seconds left but the Ponies were able to milk the clock. Wendland then made two free throws to give Havre a three-point lead with 13 seconds left. The Locomotives tried to tie the game in the final moments but they were unable to get a shot off and the Ponies held on for the victory.

Carlson finished the night leading the Ponies with 22 points while Miller scored 13 points of her own. Timm led the Locomotives with 17 points in the close loss while Aby finished the game with 13 points. With their season opener now behind them, the Ponies now hope to build off the tough win as they move forward into the season.

"We handled some adversity tonight. That was a positive we can take away," Kraske said. "In certain situations, we didn't handle adversity very well so we can grow from that."

The Ponies will next play on the road at Malta on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

Havre 50, Laurel 47

LAU - 14 10 13 10 - 47

HAV - 7 14 14 15 - 50

LAU - Emma Timm 17, Alyse Aby 13, Kaitlyn Dantic 7, Kaiya Graves 4, Bailey Graves 4, Sannah Windy Boy 2.

HAV - Avery Carlson 22, Yelena Miller 13, Jade Wendland 6, Lacy Preeshl 4, Sadie Filius 3, Kyanna Jarvis 2, Emilee Chambliss 0.