Pony girls chase elusive Eastern A title

The past two seasons, the Havre High girls basketball team has finished at the top with two straight Class A State championships. Now, this year's quest for another title begins in earnest with the Blue Ponies competing in the Eastern A Divisional this week to start the postseason. As the Ponies get ready to compete at the Metra in Billings, HHS head coach Dustin Kraske looks forward to seeing how they do against the competition.

"It should be a fun weekend," Kraske said. "We've had a great year and now it's time for the postseason and our kids are ready to go. I'm looking forward to it."

The Ponies will start the tournament today at 3:30 p.m. They will face either Lockwood or Sidney, who played each other this morning to start the tournament. Lockwood entered the tournament with a record of 7-11 while Sidney finished the regular season with a 3-15 record.

If Havre plays Lockwood, they will need to slow down their best players. Tailey Harris leads Lockwood with 14.1 points a game on 34.7 percent shooting. Dani Jordan will also look to score as she averages 11.4 points on 36.3 percent shooting. But the biggest challenge that Lockwood could provide would be their defense.

"Lockwood is a 2-3 team, They like to pressure you a little bit with trapping around half court and they also like to play a little 1-3-1," Kraske said.

Or the Ponies could face Sidney, who the Ponies have already defeated twice this season. Savanna Anderson will look to get rolling for Sidney as she leads the team with 11.7 points and 5.8 rebounds a game. With their experience against the Eagles this season, Kraske believes the Ponies would be prepared for a potential matchup.

"Sidney is a conference opponent so we feel pretty confident that we understand them maybe a little better than Lockwood just because we played them a couple times this year," Kraske said.

The Ponies should be one of the favorites in the tournament as they went 14-4 during the regular season. Amaya Jarvis will look to continue playing well in the postseason after averaging 15.0 points a game on 38.8 percent shooting during the season. Yelena Miller has played well in her return to the court with 12.0 points and 7.8 rebounds a game these past few weeks. Avery Carlson will also look to make an impact as she averages 10.3 points on 40.9 percent shooting.

If the Ponies win their first game of the tournament, they would face either Laurel or Lewistown, who play each other on Thursday at 9 a.m. Laurel should be one of the tougher teams in the tournament with a record of 14-4 this season. Meanwhile, Lewistown finished the season with a record of 7-11.

This morning, Glendive and Livingston played each other. Glendive entered the tournament with a record of 3-15 while Livingston went 1-14 during the regular season. The winner of that game would then face Billings Central tonight at 5 p.m. The Rams should be another contender in this week's tournament as they finished the regular season with a record of 15-2.

The Eastern A Divisional will continue Thursday at 10:30 a.m. with a game between Miles City and Hardin. It should be an exciting game as Miles City went 12-6 during the season and Hardin had a record of 13-5.

All these games will take place at the Metra in Billings, the biggest venue that most of these teams have probably played on this season. With the stakes higher on this floor, it should just make the games even more entertaining.

"It's a great place to play basketball. The crowds are always really good," Kraske said. "It's just a great venue for basketball so we look forward to it and our kids are excited to get back down there and play a game."

As the two-time defending state champions, the Ponies will look to make it three in a row this season. If they want to head to the Class A State Tournament once again, they will need to finish the top four at the Eastern A Divisional. There will be many tough teams competing for those four spots, so Kraske knows that execution and mentality will be key for the Ponies this weekend.

"We really need to have a high level understanding of possession basketball and I think, more than anything, keep kids in front of us defensively," Kraske said. "And then offensively, take care of the basketball, limit turnovers, make layups, make free throws and share the ball."

The HHS girls basketball team will begin the Eastern A Divisional today at 3:30 p.m. at the Metra in Billings.