Pony boys take aim at a return to state

After a long winter, the postseason has finally arrived for the Havre High boys basketball team. Tonight, the Blue Ponies finally begin competing for all the marbles as they begin the Eastern A Divisionals at the First Interstate Bank Arena in Billings. After all the highs and lows they have gone through this season, HHS head coach Walynn Burgess believes now is the time for them to put it all together.

"It's divisionals with a chance to go to state so we know that we're going to have to go down and play a pretty good game," Burgess said. "There's a lot of opportunities there for you if you take care of some business. I think the kids are kind of focused on that and they understand what's in front of them now."

The Ponies will start the tournament against Laurel tonight at 5 p.m. It will be a rematch of the Ponies' season opener all the way back in December which the Ponies won, 52-42, on the road. While the Ponies have already gotten the better of the Locomotives this season, Burgess knows that much has changed over the past few months.

"We know we've gotten better and we know they've gotten better," Burgess said. "We just can't think that since we won one game once that we're going to win again."

Laurel comes from the Southeast A and ended the regular season with a 12-7 record. On offense, the Locomotives were led by Konnor Gregerson who averaged 12.2 points a game on 45.3 percent shooting from the field. Kyson Moran also made an impact averaging 10.8 points a game on 50 percent shooting and a team-high 6.4 rebounds a contest. The Locomotives have several other players that could give Havre trouble so Burgess knows that they will need to be ready.

"They're real athletic. They're not the world's biggest team but they're all about 6'2", 6'3"," Burgess said. "We understand that we got to come ready to play, that they're going to try and force us into some different situations and just have to follow the game plan."

The Ponies finished their regular season with a 7-11 record. Caden Jenkins has led them this year averaging 10.4 points a game on 38.2 percent shooting. Xavier Butler has played well for the Ponies as he averaged 10.2 points a game and a team-high 5.8 rebounds a contest.

This season has been one of many ups and downs for the Ponies. While the Ponies did not finish the regular season with a winning record, they were competitive in most of their games and Burgess believes they have grown from where they were at the beginning of the season.

"I think we've made strides even though the record doesn't show it," Burgess said. "Just having a different team out there this year that didn't have a lot of experience, you're going to go through those growing pains and I felt like we responded really well."

If the Ponies defeat Laurel to start the tournament, they would most likely next face Lewistown (17-1). The Eagles are the No. 1 team in the state and they showed it against Havre with a two-game sweep this season. On offense, they were led by Fischer Brown who averaged 21.2 points a game on 58.6 percent shooting. Royce Robinson should be a force for the Eagles this week as he has averaged 15.4 points and 7.8 rebounds a contest this year.

Billings Central (11-7) is another tough team that will be looking for a divisional title after finishing the regular season atop the Southeast A standings. The Rams have been led by Cayden Merchant who averages 17.6 points and 7.1 rebounds a game this year.

Other Northeast A teams that will compete over the weekend include Glendive (14-4), Miles City (7-10) and Sidney (4-14). Livingston (5-9), Hardin (6-11) and Lockwood (5-13) will also come from the Southeast A to compete for a spot in the state tournament this week. If the Ponies want to survive the field and earn their first trip to state since 2016, Burgess said it will come down to the defensive end of the floor.

"We got to rely on our defense and we got to make sure that we're getting stops. We know that coming down the stretch here that every possession is going to count and that we have to treat it that way," Burgess said. "If we can rebound, control the ball and the tempo, we like our chances in any game. Just got to take care of those little things."

The Ponies begin the Eastern A Divisionals against Laurel tonight at 5 p.m. at the Metra in Billings. The tournament runs through Saturday's championship game. The top four teams from the Eastern A will join the top four from the Western A at the Class A state tournament March 10-12 in Missoula.