Neutral Fight: Pony boys take on No. 1 Lewistown in Billings

The Havre High boys basketball team has found a little bit of a groove lately with two straight wins by double digits. Now the Blue Ponies hope to carry that momentum into their conference game against Lewistown at the Metra in Billings this Saturday. The Lewistown Eagles are the No. 1 ranked teams in the state, so the Ponies will have to bring their 'A' game if they want to compete Saturday night.

"We got a big-time challenge down in the Metra against the number one team in the state. We're going to have to come ready to focus and ready to rock and roll," HHS head coach Walynn Burgess said. "Those guys are on a roll. Nobody's touched them yet this year and we'd like to have that opportunity."

The Eagles are undefeated this season with an 11-0 mark and a 4-0 record in Northeast A competition. They have many players leading them to success this season. Fischer Brown leads the Lewistown offense averaging 20.5 points a game as he shoots 60.9 percent from the field.

Royce Robinson is also having a great season for the Eagles with 13.1 points and 7.2 rebounds a contest. The Ponies also need to keep an eye on Bryce Graham who averages 10.8 points a game on 43.4 shooting. Even if the Ponies can contain these players, their depth can still hurt the Ponies.

"You have to guard every guy on that court. It doesn't matter if they've got their subs in or not," Burgess said. "Those guys are very unselfish and they play as a team. It makes them very hard to guard."

While the Eagles are having a strong season, the Ponies played them strong when they met Dec. 21 at Havre High Gymnasium. The Ponies battled throughout the night and made it a one-point game late in the contest, but the Eagles pulled out a 59-55 win. Brown led the Eagles with 24 points in the game and Matt Golik contributed with 13 points. If the Ponies are going to pull out a win this time, they will need to prevent the Eagles from taking momentum.

"We got to make sure we don't let them get on their runs. You don't want teams like those to get on their runs because when they get on deep runs, it makes for a long night," Burgess said. "We're going to have to play a near-perfect game. They're number one for a reason so we're just going to have to make sure we're coming out focused, locked in and ready to go."

The Ponies are 6-6 on the season and have a 3-3 record in Northeast A competition. If they are going to keep pace with the Eagles Saturday, they will need their best players to step up. Caden Jenkins is averaging 10 points a game this season for the Ponies. Xavier Butler is also playing well averaging 9.8 points a game. Isaac Pedraza will also look to play well against Lewistown after leading the Ponies with 18 points the last time they faced the Eagles.

Instead of going to Lewistown for the second game of the season series, the Ponies and Eagles will play on a neutral court in the Metra in Billings. The venue will be where the Ponies will play divisionals next month, so Burgess hopes his players use this weekend to get comfortable on the court.

"It's going to be pretty cool to be able to get in the Metra before divisionals," Burgess said. "Just to have that opportunity for some of these young kids to get their first minutes on that Metra court is going to be a pretty cool experience. We hope the city of Havre travels with us."

The Ponies will play Lewistown this Saturday at the Metra in Billings. The game tips at 7:30 p.m.