George Ferguson: Blue Pony boys' trip to state was a huge step

MISSOULA ­­— As Havre head coach Walynn Burgess said, postseason basketball is about getting hot at the right time. His Blue Ponies did that the last three weeks of the 2022 season.

Unfortunately, the hot streak came to an end at the Class A state tournament Friday morning in Missoula.

In a Class A state tourney loser-out game inside Dahlberg Arena, the Blue Ponies fell to Polson 74-58. Havre got an outstanding effort from junior Xavier Butler, but it wasn’t quite enough to upend the Pirates, one of many tough teams from the Western A.

Still, the loss should not, by any stretch of the imagination, take away from all the progress the Blue Ponies made this season, but especially in the last month of the season.

First of all, a relatively young Havre team, replacing four starters from a year ago, left over two major hurdles in one morning at the Eastern A last month in Billings.

The first of those was the Billings Central Rams. The Rams, the 2021 state champions, are an obstacle seemingly in everybody’s way in Class A basketball. They’re just that good of a program. But, on that Saturday morning in Billings, Havre found a way to exorcise that demon.

However, the win over Central wasn’t just your run of the mill upset. Instead, it also vaulted the Blue Ponies into the state tournament. For some, that might be old hat. But not for the Havre program. Because of just how tough the Eastern A has been in recent years, the Ponies hadn’t reached the goal of making it to state in six years. But on that morning in Billings, that hurdle was cleared too.

One thing that was impressive about Havre’s return to state, however, was just how much the Ponies weren’t satisfied with just getting there. Sure, no matter what would have happened this weekend in Missoula, it would have been a great learning experience for the Ponies’ younger roster, as well as a major springboard toward the future.

That all, of course, is true. But Havre had no problem being a contender in Missoula either. An impressive win over Frenchtown proved that right away. Then, a fierce fight with state champion Butte Central, where the Ponies showed plenty of promise, before Saturday’s battle with Polson, where HHS may have run out of gas, but not of fight.

Yes, this trip to state was a productive one for the Ponies. They looked, and played the part of a team that not only belonged there, but can win games there, and that says so much about not only the fight and the determination Havre had, but also about the talent and coaching the Ponies have, too.

Make no mistake, Havre’s postseason run was special. Special to the seniors, to all the players and coaches, and to all of Blue Pony Nation. But, I have a feeling, it isn’t a one-off either. No, you can see the Blue Pony boys program gaining momentum, and the biggest take away from Havre’s deep run to the final days of the season is, the Ponies are here to stay.

“Just really proud of the boys this year,” Burgess said. “We knew coming in that it was going to be a year where we had to keep getting better week by week and I think the boys really embraced that grind of the season and kept working toward that goal of getting to state. Can’t say enough about our senior leaders this year, they helped lay the foundation for the years to come. I’m excited we got the opportunity to represent the Havre Blue Ponies and the Hi-Line this weekend at state. We know we have work to do to bring home a trophy at state but we are excited about the opportunity to do it.”

Polson 74, Havre 58, LO

Polson 18 24 19 13 - 74

Havre 19 15 13 11 - 58

POLSON: Colton Graham 19; Jarrett Wilson 17; Xavier Fisher 15; Trent Wilson 15; Brauson Henriksen 8.

HAVRE: Xavier Butler 23; Isaac Pedraza 9; Caleb Spangler 8; Shane Patascil 7; Tre Gary 5; Caden Jenkins 4; Crawford Terry 2.