Havre boys visit tough Northeast A foes Glendive, Sidney

The Havre High boys basketball team has faced some tough competition lately. The road ahead will not get any easier for the Blue Ponies as they will head out to face conference opponents Glendive and Sidney this weekend. While a road trip is always tough, the Ponies are looking forward to the challenge.

"We're excited to be on the road," HHS head coach Walynn Burgess said. "We've kind of been home a lot lately so it's going to be nice to get on that road and see what we're made of."

The road trip starts tonight when the Ponies head to Glendive for a game. The Ponies and Red Devils previously played this season on Dec. 17 at Havre High Gymnasium where Glendive won, 60-47. The Ponies played well the first three quarters of that game, but the Devils came back to win. Glendive is first in the Northeast A with a 5-1 conference record and has a 7-4 overall record.

If the Ponies are going to split the regular season series against Glendive, they will need to limit the Red Devils' best players. Riley Basta leads the Devils averaging 16.7 points a game on 44.1 percent from the field. Against the Ponies last month, Basta scored 24 points to lead the Devils to victory. Michael Murphy and Taven Coon also played well against the Ponies as they combined for 26 points.

"We just got to match their energy," Burgess said. "We just got to make plays with them all night. You got to play a full 32 minutes. They got a lot of seniors and a lot of returners so we just hope we compete."

The Ponies will then head to Sidney for a road game Saturday. The Eagles have a 2-8 record and they are last in the Northeast A with a 0-4 conference record. This will be the second meeting between these teams this season as the Ponies defeated the Eagles, 47-39, on Dec. 18 at HHS Gymnasium. But Burgess expects the Eagles to provide a fight this weekend.

"You're going on the road and playing them in their house, you're going to have to play a little differently," Burgess said. "We're going to have to do a few more things differently: play fast, try to get up and down a little bit and see what happens."

The Eagles have some players who can make an impact. Jerome Entz leads the Eagles averaging 10.9 points a game and he scored 14 points against the Ponies in their previous matchup. Parker Sinks also played well against Havre earlier this season with 14 points. He will also be a force down low as he leads Sidney with 3.4 rebounds a game.

The Ponies enter the weekend with a 4-5 record and a 2-2 record in the Northeast A. If they are going to go above .500 this weekend, the Ponies will need their best players to play well. Xavier Butler averages 9.2 points a game, but he led the Ponies with 14 points against Glendive and 12 points against Sidney earlier this season. Havre looks to veterans like Josh Currie, Caden Jenkins and Caleb Spangler to help lead the way as well.

The Ponies have gone through their ups and downs this season as a young team. With the postseason soon approaching, the Ponies will need to soon find their stride so this weekend should be a good opportunity for them to do that.

The Ponies will play at Glendive tonight at 6 p.m. The Ponies will then face Sidney on the road Saturday at 5:30 p.m. The Ponies are back home to host Malta next Tuesday.