Blue Pony girls fall to Rams in Eastern A chipper

The Havre High girls basketball team has had a season to remember as the Blue Ponies have dominated most of their schedule to the tune of a 17-1 record in the regular season and two wins to begin the Eastern A Divisionals at the First Interstate Arena in Billings.

The lone blemish on the year came in a one-point overtime loss to Billings Central back in December. On Saturday night in the Eastern A Divisional championship game, the Ponies got the chance to avenge their lone loss of the season as they faced the Billings Central Rams.

However, the Rams shut down the Ponies and got things rolling to win, 49-37, for the program’s fourth straight divisional title. While the weekend did not end with a divisional title, HHS head coach Dustin Kraske was happy that the Ponies earned their spot in the Class A State Tournament.

“I thought our weekend was pretty good. We didn’t play our best in (the championship game) but that is what it is,” Kraske said. “The goal was to get invited to the state tournament which we did so we were happy for that and we’re moving on to next week.”

After a few minutes into the game, Maria Stewart got the scoring started with a layup to give the Rams the lead. Sadie Filius responded with a layup of her own to tie the game. After another Billings Central bucket, Jade Wendland knocked down a 3-pointer to give Havre the lead. A three from Mya Hansen then gave Laurel a 7-5 lead halfway through the opening quarter.

The Ponies found some momentum with a 5-0 to retake the lead. Wendland made another three to give Havre the lead and Yelena Miller knocked down some free throws to make it 10-7 late in the first quarter. The Rams swung back to tie the game 12-12, but a bucket by Miller and another three from Wendland gave Havre a 17-12 lead to end the first quarter.

“We were making shots and playing pretty aggressive,” Kraske said about the Ponies in the first quarter.

After a solid start to the game, the Ponies struggled on offense in the second quarter. This allowed the Rams to catch up as a Stewart three and a Hailey Euell bucket tied the game once again. Jessa Larson then knocked down a three to give the Rams a 20-17 lead late in the half. Filius knocked down a free throw for the Ponies’ only point of the quarter and then Larson made another three for the Rams before the buzzer to extend the lead to 23-18 at halftime.

After the Rams scored to start the second half, Miller went on a personal 4-0 run for the Ponies to cut the deficit to 24-22. But the Rams answered with an 8-1 run to take a 32-23 lead heading to the fourth quarter. Through the second and third quarters, the Ponies only scored a combined six points.

“They’re very good defensively and they made it really hard to score,” Kraske said. “They were very physical around the basket and we struggled with that.”

The Ponies did their best in the fourth quarter and were able to cut the deficit to 39-31 with five minutes remaining. But the Rams continued to make plays on both ends of the court to pull away for the win and hand the Ponies their second loss of the season. Miller finished the game with 18 points for the Ponies while Hansen led the Rams with 15 points. While the Ponies lost, Kraske believes what they learned from the game will help them moving forward.

“Our kids got the experience of playing in a championship which is always fun. There aren’t too many teams that get to do that,” Kraske said.

The Ponies made it to the championship game after defeating Hardin, 57-40, Friday night in the semifinals. They started the night strong with a 9-0 run. It took a couple minutes, but Wendland got a score to go in to give Havre the lead. After a 3-pointer from Avery Carlson, Filius and Miller made a pair of baskets to make it 9-0 halfway through the opening frame.

The Bulldogs finally got on the scoreboard but the Ponies held onto control to hold a 13-5 lead late in the quarter. But their offense ran into a wall as the Bulldogs went on a 4-0 run to cut the lead to 13-9 at the end of the quarter.

The Ponies responded with a 9-0 run to start the second quarter. Filius continued making plays for the Ponies to help the team build a 22-9 halfway through the quarter. The Bulldogs finally got some momentum on offense but the Ponies kept things rolling to take a 28-18 lead into halftime.

After a Hardin free throw to cut the deficit to single digits early in the second half, the Ponies took firm control of the game with a 10-0 run. Carlson had a strong stretch scoring six points for the Ponies. The Bulldogs tried to crawl their way back but Havre took a 44-26 lead into the fourth.

In the fourth, the Ponies milked the clock to win the game and clinch their spot in the championship. Wendland led the Ponies with 17 points while Miller contributed 14 points and Filius scored 13. Kylee Old Elk led Hardin with 11 points.

With a second-place finish at divisionals, the Ponies qualified for the Class A State Tournament in Missoula next week. As they return from Billings, Kraske’s main goal now is to just get the team rested and begin working on the little details of the game.

“It’s all the details of the game. We missed a few block outs so we just got to keep getting better fundamentally,” Kraske said. “It’ll be good to get back into the routine of getting our bodies back and ready to go.”

The Ponies will begin the Class A State Tournament Thursday at 3 p.m. at the University of Montana in Missoula.

Havre 57, Hardin 40

HAR - 9 9 8 14 - 40

HAV - 13 15 16 13 - 57

HAR - Kylee Old Elk 11, Sierra Takes Enemy 9, Breanna Old Elk 9, Kamber Good Luck 5, Aiyanna Big Man 3, Diamond Amyotte 2, Evelyn Old Coyote 1.

HAV - Jade Wendland 17, Yelena Miller 14, Sadie Filius 13, Avery Carlson 9, Lacy Preeshl 5, Alyssa Oliver 2.

Billings Central 49, Havre 37

HAV - 17 1 5 14 - 37

BC - 12 11 9 17 - 49

HAV - Yelena Miller 18, Jade Wendland 9, Sadie Filius 3, Avery Carlson 2, Molly Huse 2, Lizzy Haney 2, Kyanna Jarvis 1.

BC - Mya Hansen 15, Jessa Larson 9, Hailey Euell 8, Maria Stewart 7, Lily Bland 4, Alaina Woods 4, Lauren Dull 2.