Pony boys beat the buzzer against Miles City

Coming out of the winter break, the young Havre High boys basketball team looked to start the new year on the right foot with a doubleheader at the Havre High Gymnasium this past weekend. In their two games, the Blue Ponies demonstrated their resolve as they defeated Miles City, 54-51, Friday but then suffered a 67-60 loss to Hardin Saturday.

"We're still learning and we're still building to divisionals and that end of February run," HHS head coach Walynn Burgess said. "I thought we learned a lot of good things about us, we learned a lot of bad things that we need to fix and it's just one of those things that we're going to keep getting better and better at."

The weekend started off with a bang Friday night in Havre's game against Miles City. Throughout the night, the Ponies and Cowboys went back and forth. With five seconds left in regulation, Zach Welch made two free throws for Miles City to tie the game at 51.

With just a few seconds left, Caden Jenkins received the inbound pass and got up to the 3-point line where he pulled up for the final shot of the night. Jenkins' shot made it into the basket at the buzzer and gave Havre the 54-51 victory to begin 2022.

"That's my first one ever. Might be my last one ever," Jenkins said about the buzzer beater. "I'll remember it forever, that's for sure."

Early on in the game, the Cowboys showed they came to play. In the first six minutes of the game, Miles City took control to take an 8-0 lead. Ryder Lee got into a rhythm with four points during this run. While the Cowboys came out hot on offense, Burgess believes his team just did not come out ready.

"We were just stagnant. We just came out flat," Burgess said. "Basketball gods wanted to put us in a little adversity and gave us a little test."

The first point for the Ponies came with just over three and a half minutes left in the quarter as Shane Patascil made a free throw. But Lee made two free throws of his own to make it 10-1. After a basket from Isaac Pedraza, Aidan Cline made a 3-pointer to make it 13-3. But thanks to scores from Pedraza, Jenkins and Crawford Terry, the Ponies cut their deficit to 13-9 at the end of the opening quarter.

The Ponies opened the second quarter on a 10-2 run to take a 19-15 lead. Terry was the driving force behind the run with five points during the stretch. The Cowboys responded when Ed Brooks scored a basket and Welch made two free throws to tie the game again. But the Ponies ended the half on a 6-0 run to take a 25-19 lead into the half. After the slow start to the game, Burgess believes his team's response in the second demonstrates their growth this season.

"They're starting to figure it out. They're starting to come together as a team," Burgess said. "They got each other's back and when you start fighting for your brothers, anything can happen."

But the Cowboys battled back and took the lead away from the Ponies at several points in the third quarter. A 3-pointer from Lee gave Miles City a 29-28 lead with three and a half minutes left in the third and the Cowboys maintained control en route to a 39-34 lead to end the third.

"They just knocked down some shots and we got a little lackadaisical in our zone," Burgess said about the third quarter.

A 3-pointer to open the fourth gave the Cowboys a 42-34 lead, but the Ponies responded with an 11-4 run to cut the deficit to 46-45 with under two and a half minutes left. Xavier Butler was a huge force during this run with six points.

"Walynn hyped us up in the huddle and told us we need to get it together," Jenkins said about getting back into the game. "That gave us the fire to pick up the defense and ultimately that's what won us the game."

After a Miles City 3-pointer, Jenkins made a layup and one free throw to again cut it to one point. Moments later with just over half a minute left in the game, Jenkins made a layup to give Havre a 50-49 lead. After some strong defense, Butler made a free throw for a 51-49 lead with 14.2 seconds left. After Welch made two free throws to tie the game, Jenkins made his buzzer beater to earn the conference win.

Jenkins led the Ponies with 21 points on the night. Butler scored 11 while Terry chipped in seven points. Dalton Polesky was the leading scorer for the Cowboys with 18 points while Lee had a strong night with 17 points. The win improved the Ponies to 2-2 in the Northeast A.

The Ponies found themselves in another dog fight Saturday. However, they were unable to pull out the win as they fell to the Bulldogs. Hardin jumped out to an early 7-1 lead to start the game but the Ponies came back to take a 11-10 lead. Hardin then answered right back to take a 17-13 lead to end the first quarter.

The Ponies found their groove in the second quarter with a 12-0 run. Jenkins ended the run with a basket and then a 3-pointer to give Havre a 25-17 lead with just under three minutes left in the half. But the Bulldogs scored four straight points to cut their deficit to 25-21 at halftime.

The Ponies maintained control through most of the third quarter but the Bulldogs eventually fought their way back into the game. Keenan Wuttnee scored three straight points for the Bulldogs to tie the game, 35-35, with just over three minutes left in the quarter. The Ponies eventually took back the lead but only led, 45-43, heading to the fourth.

The Bulldogs continued to fight back in the fourth quarter. With six minutes left in the game, Wuttnee made a layup and one free throw to give Hardin a 50-49 lead. Patascil responded to give the Ponies the lead again but Hardin took it right back with a layup from Hunee Three Irons. A free throw from Patascil then tied the game again, 52-52, with under four minutes left.

Tayze Rogers made the biggest play of the game as he made a 3-pointer while getting fouled to give Hardin the lead. He then made the free throw to complete the four-point play. Patascil continued his strong fourth quarter with another basket but back-to-back scores from Hardin made it, 60-56, with two minutes left.

Patascil cut the deficit to one point with a layup and one free throw but the Bulldogs took advantage of their opportunities on offense and the free-throw line down the stretch. They also played strong defense to prevent any Havre field goals the rest of the game which allowed Hardin to pull away for the win. In the loss, Patascil led the Ponies with 16 points while Jenkins scored 15 and Butler scored 11. Rogers led the Bulldogs with 21 points while Wuttnee scored 16 for the win.

The Ponies are now 4-4 this season as they continue to grow and improve as a team. Not only are the Ponies sharing the ball better, but Burgess believes the team is beginning to learn how to come together as a unit.

"I really loved our togetherness," Burgess said. "We've got a bunch of guys that can play and we just need to learn how to mix and match them well together. I thought being together, you could see those changes they had this weekend."

The Ponies will next play on the road at Browning on Thursday night at 7 p.m.

Havre 54, Miles City 51

Miles City 13 6 20 12 - 51

Havre 9 16 9 20 - 54

Miles City - Dalton Polesky 18, Ryder Lee 17, Zach Welch 8, Logan Muri 3, Aidan Cline 3, Ed Brooks 2.

Havre - Caden Jenkins 21, Xavier Butler 11, Crawford Terry 7, Shane Patascil 6, Isaac Pedraza 6, Josh Currie 3.

Hardin 67, Havre 60

Hardin 17 4 22 24 - 60

Havre 13 12 20 15 - 60

Hardin - Tayze Rogers 21, Keenan Wuttnee 16, Hunee Three Irons 9, Elias Stops 8, Troy Hugs 7, Kingston Hugs 6.

Havre - Shane Patascil 16, Caden Jenkins 15, Xavier Butler 11, Caleb Spangler 8, Josh Currie 6, Tre Gary 4.