Young Blue Ponies pull out road win over Laurel

Heading into their season opener on the road at Laurel Friday night, the Havre High boys basketball team had a lot to overcome. Not only do the Blue Ponies have five new starters in their lineup, but this young team had to go on the road to start the year. However, HHS head coach Walynn Burgess believes his young team showed well as they defeated Laurel, 52-42, to open the season.

"Just being able to go down south and get a W, it was good," Burgess said. "It was a good time for the boys to grow up and get ready for the season to go."

While Havre defeated Laurel by 10 points, the Ponies and Locomotives went back and forth through most of the night. A couple minutes into the game, Josh Currie stole the ball and converted it into a layup to give Havre an early lead. A layup from Carter Spangler and a jumper from Caden Jenkins pushed the Havre lead to 6-0 with just over three minutes left in the opening quarter.

But the Locomotives were able to gather themselves as they scored five straight points to cut their deficit to one point. Jenkins responded for the Ponies as he nailed a 3-pointer and a jumper to extend the Havre lead but Laurel finished the quarter strong to trail 11-9 at the end of the quarter.

The second quarter saw the Ponies and Locomotives go back and forth. Laurel would often score to tie the game before Havre retook the lead. The game was tied, 17-17, heading into the final minute of the half but a layup from freshman Jevin Jenkins gave Havre the lead heading into halftime.

With such a young team early in the season, it would have been easy for them to buckle under the pressure of such a tight game. However, Burgess believes that these youngsters believe in each other and have already bought in.

"Being together is a big thing and these guys have bought into it," Burgess said. "We're really excited about what's going to happen throughout the year. We know we're going to keep improving until we get to March."

The Ponies started the third quarter strong with a pair of scores from Caden Jenkins and Xavier Butler to push their lead to six points. But Laurel responded with a 8-2 run to tie the game, 25-25, halfway through the quarter.

After a Havre free throw to take a one-point lead, the Locomotives scored a pair of free throws to take a 27-26 lead. But Crawford Terry responded for the Ponies as he made a layup and one free throw to retake the lead. Another bucket from Spangler gave Havre a 31-27 lead to end the third.

The Ponies were finally able to put some distance between them and the Locomotives in the fourth quarter. However, Laurel refused to go away as Havre only held a 45-39 lead with just under two minutes left in the game. However, Spangler outscored Laurel, 7-3, by himself the rest of the way, including three free throws to put the game away for the Ponies. After playing tight for most of the game, Burgess believes the Ponies finally wore down Laurel to put them away.

"It was just one of those (games). Just grinded through the whole game and kind of wore them down by the end," Burgess said. "They just kept fighting through the whole time, and we ended up just pulling it out in the end."

While the Ponies are a young team, they were led by their seniors Friday night. Spangler's strong play in the post and his ability to get to the free-throw line allowed him to lead the Ponies with 17 points in the game. Caden Jenkins finished the night with 11 points and Currie recorded five points of his own.

With a tough win on the road to start the year, Burgess feels good about where his team is. Not only did the young team learn how to win, but they learned that they need to work together if they are going to continue winning.

"It's a good start for us, just knowing that we have to do it together no matter what," Burgess said. "If it's on offense or defense, it's going to have to be all of us together. It was an exciting start, we're excited about it but we know that there is more to come."

The Ponies will next play on the road at Malta Tuesday at 6 p.m.

Havre 52, Laurel 42

HAV - 11 8 12 21 - 52

LAU - 9 8 10 15 - 42

HAV - Caleb Spangler 17, Caden Jenkins 11, Xavier Butler 7, Jevin Jenkins 6, Josh Currie 5, Crawford Terry 4, Shane Patascil 2.