Blue Ponies win ninth straight game

Good luck trying to slow down the Havre High girls basketball team this season. The Blue Ponies had won eight games in a row heading into Tuesday night's game at Havre High Gymnasium and they were looking to keep it up against Malta. Even though the M-Ettes are a tough squad, the Ponies showed no signs of slowing down as they won 55-26.

"I thought we played great," HHS head coach Dustin Kraske said. "Malta's a really good team and we held them to 26 points. That's a good defensive effort."

The Ponies came out strong to set the tone. After Allison Kunze made a free throw to give Malta a 1-0 lead, Sadie Filius nailed a 3-pointer from the corner to give Havre a 3-1 lead. Kunze tied the game with a pair of free throws and the Ponies responded with six straight points to take a 9-3 lead. Filius got the run started with another basket while Yelena Miller and Avery Carlson each scored a basket during the run.

After Brylee French made a free throw to cut the deficit to 9-4, the Ponies ended the first quarter on an 8-0 run. Miller got the run started with a pair of free throws and then a layup. In the final minutes of the quarter, Jade Wendland shot some free throws and scored a basket to make the lead, 17-4, heading to the break.

"The kids were ready to go, I think, more than anything," Kraske said about the start. "It's their mental prep that causes us to play well."

The Ponies continued to play strong defense in the second quarter which allowed them to stretch out their lead. The M-Ettes scored their first field goal of the game with a layup from Maddie Williamson in the first minute of the quarter. Even with that score, they could not get things rolling on offense.

Havre's offense continued to make plays to end the half. A 3-pointer from Filius gave the Ponies a 23-8 lead halfway through the second quarter. In the final minute of the half, Wendland hit from beyond the arc to give the Ponies a 28-11 lead heading into halftime.

Coming out of halftime, the M-Ettes went on a 9-2 run to claw their way back into the contest. Justine Lamb opened the half with a jump shot to get things going. After a layup from Miller, Lauren Tuss and Kunze made some free throws to further cut into the Havre lead. Williamson ended the run with a pair of baskets to cut the lead to 30-20 with under five minutes left in the half.

But the Ponies did not falter as they regained momentum. Miller made a layup to extend the lead 32-20. Filius then went on a personal 7-0 run to stretch the lead to 39-20 late in the quarter. The M-Ettes tried to go on another run but the Ponies led, 42-23, at the end of the quarter.

"I think we were just able to respond by just knowing that we're going to work hard no matter what," Filius said about holding off the Malta run. "The score is just going to be what it is and we just got to focus on ourselves."

The Havre defense continued to play strong as the M-Ettes only scored three points in the fourth quarter. Kunze finished the game leading Malta with 11 points. Filius finished the game with 19 points while Miller scored 13 points.

With the win, the Ponies complete the season sweep of the M-Ettes as they won, 43-30, in Malta last month. The Ponies jumped out to an early lead in that game as well, but the M-Ettes came back to make it a game. With a strong performance from start to finish this time, Kraske was pleased with the Ponies.

"Everything about the game was better. I thought our start was strong and I thought our start (to the second half) was strong as well," Kraske said. "I thought our kids did a nice job of maintaining that strength throughout the game."

The Ponies are now 11-1 on the season and are riding a nine-game winning streak. While they have won eight of their last nine games by double digits, Kraske believes there is still room for improvement and hopes that this game against Malta can help with that.

"(We're) just trying to get better. I thought our kids did a good job with all of that. I just appreciate their effort," Kraske said. "We can take a lot of positives from playing a good team like Malta and beating them."

The Ponies will next play Lewistown this Saturday at the Metra in Billings.

Havre 55, Malta 26

MAL - 4 7 12 3 - 26

HAV - 17 11 14 13 - 55

MAL - Allison Kunze 11, Maddie Williamson 8, Lauren Tuss 3, Justine Lamb 2, Brylee French 2.

HAV - Sadie Filius 19, Yelena Miller 13, Jade Wendland 9, Lacy Preeshl 5, Avery Carlson 5, Alyssa Oliver 2, Lizzi Haney 2.