Blue Pony boys head on the road to finish conference slate

The Havre High boys basketball team has been through several ups and downs this season. The Blue Ponies are coming off a 90-51 loss to the Lewistown Eagles at the Metra in Billings this past weekend, so they will be looking to bounce back when they head on the road to play conference foe Miles City and then Hardin this weekend.

"It's always going to be hard when you get on the road," HHS head coach Walynn Burgess said. "We understand the challenges that are in front of us this week and we have to take care of it."

The Ponies will start the road trip with a game tonight at Miles City. The Cowboys enter the weekend with a 4-8 record and a 1-4 conference record. The Cowboys have demonstrated they are capable of playing well with recent wins over Hardin and Billings Central but they have lost their last two games.

Miles City has many players who are having strong seasons. Dalton Polesky leads the Cowboys with 18.8 points a game on 48.9 percent shooting from the field. Zach Welch is also playing well with his 14.2 points a game on 48.1 percent shooting this season. Ryder Lee leads the team with 7.3 rebounds a game while also scoring 12.2 points a contest.

"They run some good actions. A lot of good action out of their offense. They play really hard," Burgess said about the Cowboys. "We figure that they're going to be a little mad after what happened last time, and we know we're going to have to play our best game to be in there and compete."

The Ponies and Cowboys faced off at Havre High Gymnasium last month, a game that the Ponies won 54-51. Caden Jenkins won the game with a 3-pointer at the buzzer, finishing the game with 21 points to lead the Ponies. Xavier Butler scored 11 points for the Ponies in the win. If the Ponies are going to defeat the Cowboys again, they will need to recapture that energy that led them to a close win the first time out.

"We just had a lot of energy and fire. We didn't want to lose that game," Burgess said. "We're going to have to control the tempo, keep them out of their sets and get some good looks."

The Ponies will then head to Hardin Saturday to face the Bulldogs. Hardin has a 6-7 record but has many players that could lead them to victory against Havre. Bryson Rogers leads the Bulldogs with 18.1 points a game on 49.1 percent shooting. Troy Hugs is also playing well with 10.5 points a game. But even if the Ponies can contain these players, they will still be in for a battle against Hardin.

"They got an engine that doesn't stop. They're constantly putting pressure on you, putting you on your heels, no matter if they're on offense or defense," Burgess said. "We're excited for the challenge to go on the road and play those guys down in Hardin."

Hardin defeated Havre, 67-60, at HHS Gymnasium last month. Rogers led the Bulldogs with 21 points while Keenan Wuttnee scored 16 in the win. Shane Patascil led the Ponies with 16 points while Jenkins scored 15 in the losing effort. If the Ponies want a different outcome this time, Burgess believes they will need to out rebound the Bulldogs.

"We got to keep them off the board and we got to keep our turnovers down," Burgess said. "They go to the boards really hard and we have to make sure that we're getting on them and keeping them out."

The Ponies enter the weekend with a 6-7 record and a 3-4 mark in the Northeast A. Jenkins leads Havre with 10.4 points a game on 38.3 percent shooting. Butler is also contributing with 10 points a contest. As their conference schedule comes to an end this weekend and the regular season closes in the next few weeks, Burgess wants to see his team continue to grow together on the road this weekend.

"Just playing together on the road. Anytime we go on the road, we're one against everybody out there," Burgess said. "We love these challenges and these opportunities. We know we're going to grow from it either way."

The Ponies will play on the road at Miles City tonight. They will then head to Hardin Saturday.