HHS girls fall in yet another OT thriller with Billings Central

On Saturday afternoon, the Havre High girls basketball team faced a familiar opponent in the Billings Central Rams. The two teams faced off twice in last year’s postseason, including the state championship game that the Blue Ponies won, 64-60, in overtime. But this time, the Rams grinded out a 55-54 overtime win over the Ponies in Billings.

“It was a great game,” HHS head coach Dustin Kraske said. “We played really well. I was pleased with our efforts. We had a few moments of really good basketball and we’re going to work to focus on getting more moments of that.”

The game started with the Ponies and Rams exchanging shots. On the Rams’ opening possession, Mya Hansen nailed a 3-pointer for the lead. Havre then responded with a 3-pointer from Avery Carlson to tie the game. Moments later, Hansen made a layup to give the Rams the lead.

The Ponies took a 6-5 lead when Sadie Filius made a layup and a free throw. The three-point play jump started a run that allowed Havre to take an 11-7 lead with two minutes left in the opening quarter. But the Rams responded with layups from Alaina Woods and Jessa Larson to tie the game.

Havre ended the quarter with back-to-back threes from Carlson and Jade Wendland to take a 17-11 lead into the break. Early in the second quarter, the Rams were able to cut the Havre lead to 19-16 but that is when the Ponies kicked it up a notch. Over the last five and a half minutes of the half, the Ponies went on a 9-3 run for a 28-19 lead at halftime. Yelena Miller made a pair of layups to lead the Ponies with four points during the run.

Wendland opened the third quarter strong as she went on a personal 9-3 run to help Havre build a 37-22 lead halfway through the quarter. While Wendland and the rest of the Ponies shot well late in the first half and early in the second, Kraske believes their play on the other side of the court led to their big runs.

“I thought the biggest part was we were so good defensively,” Kraske said. “We committed to defense a little bit there in the third, maybe the first four minutes, and we were really good.”

But the rest of the third and the beginning of the fourth completely belonged to the Rams. Over the last few minutes of the third, Woods made a pair of layups to start a run that resulted in Havre only holding a 39-34 lead at the end of the third. The Rams continued to chip away at the lead as Hansen made a 3-pointer to tie the game, 44-44, with just under five minutes left in the game. She then made a free throw to give the Rams a 45-44 lead to cap off a 23-7 run for the Rams.

“We knew they would make a run because they’re a good team,” Kraske said of Central. “I thought we lost a little bit of our defensive enthusiasm and that allowed them to come back.”

The Ponies were able to gather themselves to retake the lead. Over the next few minutes, Carlson twice made a layup and a one free throw to give Havre a 50-45 lead with just under three minutes left. But a few moments later, Larson nailed a three to cut the deficit to two again.

Havre held onto its slim lead all the way to the final seconds of regulation. But Hailey Euell was fouled with 7.6 seconds left on the clock and she made both free throws to tie the game. On the ensuing possession, the Ponies missed their final shot and the game went to overtime.

There was no score until about a minute and a half into overtime when Maria Stewart made a layup to give the Rams the lead. But a minute later, Miller made a pair of free throws to tie the game once again. After another Billings Central score, Carlson made a layup to tie the game, 54-54, with just over a minute left.

Looking to take the lead, Hansen was fouled with 25.9 seconds left. At the line, she made one of her two free throw attempts to give the Rams a 55-54 lead. On the next Havre possession, the Ponies had several opportunities to take the lead but they missed their shots. The Rams were able to get the ball back and they dribbled out the clock.

The loss dropped Havre to 2-1 this season while the Rams improved to 1-1. After a close loss, Kraske and the Ponies will be looking to make those small adjustments in areas that kept them from victory.

“We have to learn that the defensive possessions matter,” Kraske said. “It isn’t that some of them matter, it’s that all of them matter and that’s what we’re going to have to continue to work on. I think develop that mindset as a team.”

The Ponies return to Havre to host Glendive at the HHS Gymnasium this Friday at 6 p.m.

Billings Central 55, Havre 54, OT

HAV - 17 11 11 11 4 - 54

BC - 11 8 15 16 5 - 55

HAV - Jade Wendland 15, Avery Carlson 14, Yelena Miller 14, Sadie Filius 8, Kyanna Jarvis 2, Lacy Preeshl 1.

BC - Mya Hansen 17, Alaina Woods 12, Maria Stewart 9, Jessa Larson 8, Lily Bland 4, Lauren Dull 3, Hailey Euell 2.