Blue Ponies win in double overtime against Miles City

Over the weekend, the Havre High boys basketball team had a tough road trip with games at Miles City and Hardin. While the Blue Ponies faced their adversity, they pulled off an 82-79 win over Miles City in double overtime Friday and then defeated Hardin, 80-70, Saturday to wrap up the weekend. With two tough road wins, HHS head coach Walynn Burgess was impressed by how his players performed this weekend.

“Just the whole mentality of the kids coming off the bus and getting ready to go to battle,” Burgess said. “To be on the road and have that many hours on a bus and compete in two highly contested games.”

Friday night’s thriller started with the Cowboys jumping out to a 6-0 lead. The Ponies quickly responded with a 10-0 run to take the lead. Xavier Butler led the way with a pair of 3-pointers during this stretch. However, Ed Brooks knocked in a three to cut Havre’s lead to 10-9 to end the quarter.

Jake Larson opened the second with a layup to give the Cowboys an 11-10 lead. After Shane Patacsil responded with a three to give Havre the lead again, the Cowboys made two straight baskets to take a 15-13 lead.

Over the rest of the half, the Ponies and Cowboys exchanged buckets to keep it a tight contest. With about a minute left in the half, Patacsil made a pair of free throws to give Havre a 29-28 lead. Miles City responded with a three from Ryder Lee to take the lead again. In the closing moments of the quarter, Tre Gary knocked down a shot to tie the game, 31-31, heading into halftime.

Logan Muri started the third quarter with a three to give Miles City the lead. Over the next few minutes, the Ponies kept pace as they responded with an answer everytime Miles City scored. Late in the quarter, Miles City went on a short run to stretch their lead to 44-37. But Crawford Terry knocked down a pair of free throws to cut Havre’s deficit to 44-39 heading to the fourth.

Just like all games, the Cowboys and Ponies went back and forth through most of the fourth with neither team going on a sizable run. With little time remaining, the Cowboys were in good shape with a 63-57 lead.

With time running out, the Ponies ended regulation on a 6-0 run. Carter Spangler and Gary got the run started with a pair of baskets to make it a two-point game. Terry then made a layup in the closing moments to tie the game and send it to overtime.

The back and forth continued into overtime. After Miles City took the lead, Butler knocked down a pair of threes to give Havre a 72-67 late in the period. But the Cowboys responded with a run of their own. After Dylan Gundlach knocked down a three, Brooks made a layup in the closing moments to tie the game, 72-72, and to force another overtime period.

Through the second overtime period, the Cowboys and Ponies continued to exchange baskets. The Ponies had a 79-76 lead late in the period, but Brooks knocked in a three to tie the game again. But Butler came through again with a three to give Havre an 82-79 lead late in the period. The Ponies then missed a free throw that would have put it out of reach, but Larson’s heave at the buzzer fell short and Ponies survived the thriller.

“It was just the next play mentality,” Burgess said about winning in overtime. “Just being able to think of the next play and knowing that it doesn’t matter if they scored, we got to go down and score.”

Butler led the Ponies with 20 points in the game. Gary and Spangler each scored 13 points while Terry and Jackson Headdress each scored 12 for the Ponies. Lee led the Cowboys with 21 points in the loss.

The Ponies’ game against Hardin was less exciting but was no easier. In the first quarter, the Ponies and Bulldogs went back and forth. Late in the quarter, the Bulldogs took a little momentum as they were able to take a 16-12 lead.

But the Ponies responded in the second quarter as they took a 39-31 lead into halftime. They were unable to pull away in the third quarter, but the Ponies stayed consistent as they took a 58-49 lead into the fourth.

In the fourth quarter, the Ponies finally put the game out of reach as they went on to win by 10 points. Patacsil led Havre with 18 points while Gary scored 16.

With the two wins over the weekend, the Ponies finished 5-3 in the Northeast A and they improved to 11-5 this season. With only two more games in the regular season, the Ponies will look to build off these wins.

“We had some mistakes and we’re learning from it, but the whole growth part, you can see kind of click here towards the end,” Burgess said. “I feel like the kids are turning a corner right now and learning from their mistakes and just moving forward every day which is what we’ve been shooting for this year.”

The HHS boys basketball team will next play against Fairfield at Havre High Gymnasium this Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Havre 82, Miles City 79

HAV - 10 21 13 19 9 10 - 82

MC - 9 22 8 24 9 7 - 79

HAV - Xavier Butler 20, Tre Gary 13, Carter Spangler 13, Crawford Terry 12, Jackson Headdress 12, Shane Patacsil 7, Matthew Huse 3, Reid Kato 2.

MC - Ryder Lee 21, Logan Muri 18, Dylan Gundlach 17, Ed Brooks 15, Jake Larson 5, Jackson Whicker 3.

Havre 80, Hardin 70

HAV - 12 27 19 22 - 80

HAR - 16 15 18 21 - 70

HAV - Shane Patacsil 18, Tre Gary 16, Xavier Butler 14, Kash Keller 12, Reid Kato 7, Jackson Headdress 6, Carter Spangler 5, Crawford Terry 2.

HAR - Elias Stops At Pretty Places 22, Kingston Hugs 16, Antonio Espinoza 11, James Jefferson 6, Michael Hill 4, Uriah Pisano 4, Justin Strait 3, Houston Little Light 2, Chance Three Irons 2.