Blue Pony boys fall in overtime to begin Eastern A divisionals

The Havre High boys basketball team finally began the postseason Wednesday night at the First Interstate Arena in Billings. The Blue Ponies got the Eastern A Divisionals started at the Metra with a game against the Laurel Locomotives.

It was a competitive game throughout and one that the Ponies had several opportunities to win. However, the Locomotives fought back and defeated Havre, 49-46, in overtime.

"It just came down to a couple little things, a couple extra turnovers in the end and went cold towards the end. Just a tough one to swallow," HHS head coach Walynn Burgess said. "I just thought the kids played with a lot of heart, a lot of guts, they played their butts off to get it to overtime to have a chance in a game like that."

Caden Jenkins got the Ponies on the scoreboard with a pair of free throws to start the game. The Locomotives responded with a 6-0 run to take an early lead. Isaac Pedraza then knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to give Havre an 8-6 lead. Laurel answered with a bucket to tie the game 8-8. After some Laurel free throws, Tre Gary made a layup to tie the game, 10-10, to end the first quarter.

Jenkins started the second quarter with a three to take the lead. Caleb Spangler and Xavier Butler then made some scores to stretch the lead to 17-10. After a Laurel three, Shane Patascil knocked down another three for the Ponies.

Laurel got on a run with a pair of buckets to cut the Havre lead to three points. But a Patascil bucket gave Havre a 22-17 lead heading into halftime. While the Ponies were hitting their shots, Burgess credits the defense for the halftime lead.

"We were just putting them into bad shots. We were running a lot of time off that clock and put them in uncomfortable situations." Burgess said. "I thought we were playing really well there. We were controlling the boards really well like we wanted to."

Pedraza started the second half with a bucket to stretch the lead to 24-17. But the Locomotives responded with a 9-4 run to tie the game 26-26. The Locomotives and Ponies continued to exchange scores until Laurel took a 32-31 lead with 56 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Ponies ended the third quarter on a strong note with a pair of buckets from Gary. His second bucket gave Havre a 35-32 lead heading to the fourth.

The final quarter of regulation was a low-scoring affair. The only score in the first three minutes of the quarter came from Konnor Gregerson which cut the Havre lead to one point.

The Ponies finally scored in the fourth with a basket from Jenkins to stretch the lead to 37-34. But scores from Shel Osborne and Kyson Moran gave Laurel a 38-37 lead with under a minute and a half left in the game. Gary scored a bucket for the Ponies to give them a one-point lead with about a minute left in regulation.

With 14.9 seconds left on the clock, the Ponies fouled Dalton Boehler and sent him to the free throw. While he failed to take the lead, he did make one of his attempts to tie the game and send it to overtime.

In overtime, the Locomotives took control. After both Laurel and Havre scored, the Locomotives went on a 6-0 run to take the lead. Boehler scored four points during this stretch, including a pair of free throws that gave Laurel a 47-41 lead with 25.7 seconds left.

The Ponies tried to claw their way back but were unable to overcome the late deficit. Jenkins finished the game with 14 points while Gary scored 12 points in the losing effort. Gregerson led Laurel with 14 points while Boehler contributed 13 points in the win.

With the loss, the Ponies now head to the consolation bracket. As they try to make a run and qualify for a spot in the state tournament, Burgess just looks forward to another chance to compete this week.

"We got two more games to win. It'd be interesting to see how we bounce back," Burgess said. "We appreciate that we can come down and have these opportunities. Now it's time for us to take it and run with it."

The Ponies next play in a consolation game on Friday morning at 10:30 a.m. at the Metra in Billings. The HHS girls basketball team will begin the Eastern A Divisionals with a game against Lockwood this afternoon at the Metra.

Laurel 49, Havre 46

HAV - 10 12 13 74 7 - 46

LAU - 10 7 15 7 10 - 49

HAV - Caden Jenkins 14, Tre Gary 12, Isaac Pedraza 8, Shane Patascil 5, Josh Currie 3, Xavier Butler 2, Caleb Spangler 2.

LAU - Konnor Gregerson 14, Dalton Boehler 13, Kyson Moran 8, Emmet Renner 8, Shel Osborne 6.