Havre High boy's hoopers return to the court with doubleheader

Coming out of the holiday break, the Havre High boys basketball team will return to the court this weekend with a doubleheader at Havre High Gymnasium. The Blue Ponies will begin the weekend tonight at home with a conference game against Miles City. The Ponies will then play again Saturday afternoon at home with a game against Hardin.

The Miles City Cowboys should be a tough opponent to start the weekend as they enter the game with a record of 4-1 and a 1-0 start to conference play. Ryder Lee has been a force on the court this season with 21.2 points and 10.2 rebounds a game. Logan Muri is also playing well with 11.8 points a game on 47 percent shooting, so the Ponies know they are heading into a fight tonight.

"It's going to be a hard-fought battle. They match up pretty well across the board all the way from top to bottom," HHS head coach Walynn Burgess said. "We're excited that we're in the home confines for that game but it's going to be a good battle for us."

After a tough game to start the weekend, the Ponies will play against the Hardin Bulldogs Saturday. The Bulldogs enter the game with an 0-5 record this season, but Burgess knows they will play with fire against the Ponies this weekend.

"Since I got here five years ago, it's been an absolute battle (against Hardin). Those guys play 110 miles an hour," Burgess said. "We know there's never an easy game when you play Hardin. If they're up or they're down as far as talentwise goes, they know how to play basketball."

This weekend, the Ponies will look to keep up their strong start to season. Through their first five games, the Ponies are 4-1 with a 2-0 record to start Northeast A competition. Xavier Butler is off to a strong start this season averaging 16.0 points and 7.2 rebounds a game. Tre Gary has been a contributor for the Ponies this season averaging 10.6 points a game while Shane Patacsil has been steady with 10.0 points a game on 34.5 percent shooting.

The Ponies last played Dec. 20 against Malta right before the holidays. In the weeks since, the Ponies have been focused on fixing the little things to not only win this weekend, but set themselves up for success down the line.

"We were just correcting some problems that we know could bite us in the butt when it comes down to the end of the year," Burgess said. "We know that we've got time to correct some things but we know that we've got to look in the mirror and correct them now so when it comes down to February-time we're pretty locked and loaded to finish out the year."

Before the postseason rolls around, though, the Ponies look to start the new year on the right foot. While there are many areas of the game that determine victory and defeat, Burgess believes it will just come to two things this weekend against Miles City and Hardin.

"We got to force more turnovers and go win the rebound battle," Burgess said. "I feel like that just gives us more opportunities to go score, and it gives them less opportunities, and that's the name of the game."

The HHS boys basketball team will tip off against Miles City tonight at 6 p.m. at HHS Gymnasium. The Ponies will then play again at home against Hardin Saturday at 5:30 p.m.