Another Parade for the Ponies

It's one of the best time-honored traditions in sports: the championship parade. It was the Havre High girls basketball team's chance to do it on Tuesday afternoon after they defeated Billings Central for the Class A State title last weekend. As the girls went through town, they were followed by parents and fans to make up the parade and celebrate their accomplishment.

"It's just very overwhelming in a good way. It's great to have the community come out and support us," junior Yelena Miller said. "I can't thank everyone enough. They're just great.

"It's more exciting than I had imagined," senior Lacy Preeshl said. "It's just a lot of fun when you have the whole student body and everybody in town just rooting for you, and when you come back with a win, it's just really exciting."

While winning another state title seems like business as usual for the Ponies, that does not make it any less exciting for the players involved. In her final year for the Ponies, Preeshl got to go out on top with a state championship. But she also believes this title is personally more exciting for her role because of her expanded role with the team.

"I am more ecstatic because last year, I was more of a role player on the bench and I was cheering for my team," Preeshl said. "This year, I got to contribute to the championship win, so that felt really good."

The parade ended at the Havre High gymnasium where HHS head coach Dustin Kraske addressed the crowd of fans and students at a rally. He started talking about the Blue Ponies' success these past few seasons. This was the second straight title for the Ponies and their fifth since 2014. Their most recent title brought the total for the program to eight, now tying them for third in Havre High history.

Kraske talked about the journey this season en route to a state title. He discussed how the season began on the first Monday of last June when his players showed up at 7 a.m. to begin work for the season. Along with the support of their parents, Kraske believes this set the tone for the year.

"All these kids' hard work and their parents' support ... it made us the best team we can be," Kraske said to the crowd at the HHS gymnasium. "On this particular year, the best team that this team could be was a state championship team."

Kraske then talked more about the team's mentality and play style throughout the year that led to the championship. He mostly talked about their defensive-minded, grind-it-out play style that frustrated their opponents and forced them into mistakes that led to points on the other end.

"I appreciate that you guys don't mind playing boring basketball because we're a big fan of that and our fundamentals are really good," Kraske said. "At state, I felt like you guys put on a defensive clinic for three straight games."

Throughout his speech, Kraske gave thanks to everyone he could think of including assistant coaches, managers, the Montana State University-Northern basketball coaches and other HHS coaches. He also thanked his family for their support as he spent many hours during the season at the gym, on the road or at home watching tape.

Kraske and the Ponies have already cemented their names in the record books for Havre and in Montana high school basketball.

While another state title is great, Kraske is already planning on getting ready for next year.

"I look forward to June 7 at 7 o'clock in the morning," Kraske said.