Pony boys run over Eagles, Stars

Before the Havre High boys basketball team blew out the Rocky Boy Stars for the second time this season, the Blue Ponies had a little Central A business to take care of.

On Friday night, Havre honored special seniors Dane Warp, Jerod Boles, Nate Rismon, Zack Hunt and Bridger Bibeau before the group’s last game inside the HHS gymnasium. But better yet, the best to way to honor the seniors was to go out and play well and beat rival Lewistown in an important Central A showdown.

And that’s exactly what the Blue Ponies did, as they upended the Eagles 62-49 in the last HHS home game of the season.

“I was really proud of the guys,” said HHS head coach Curt Leeds. “You know, this is a really different group. Sometimes, seniors make senior night all about that, and it kind of gets in the way of what you have to do in the game. But this group of seniors are so unselfish. They really have helped us become a complete team. So even on senior night, everybody was together, as one team, and they played that way.”

The Ponies also played fantastic defense against a young, but athletic Lewistown squad that gave Havre a run for its money last month in Lewistown. The Ponies allowed the Eagles to score just 17 points in the first half, while on the other end, Warp got off to a quick start and helped HHS take a seven-point lead into halftime.

The Eagles, who played pretty well defensively for three quarters, kept things close, and trailed just 35-28 heading into the final stanza, but Havre exploded with 27 points in the last eight minutes to win going away and improve to 7-1 in the Central A with just one game left.

Warp was the catalyst with a 29-point outing, while Boles and Rismon chipped in with 17 more, and Ivar Aageson added six off the bench. The win over the Eagles, coupled with Lewistown’s upset of Browning Saturday night, gives Havre an even stronger position to win the Central A outright next week.

But before the Ponies can get to a big showdown with Browning, they had one last non-conference game to take care of, and Saturday night in Rocky Boy, the host Stars were no match for a streaking HHS squad. Havre beat the Stars 69-45 to improve to 12-5 on the season.

“We’ve been playing like this for about our last five games,” Leeds said. “I feel like we’re really putting it all together right now. We’re playing great defensively, we’re being patient on offense, taking great shots instead of just good shots, we’re sharing the ball and we’re scoring more. And I thought we did all of those things again tonight.”

Indeed. The Ponies got off to a fast start, as Warp and Rismon combined for 16 first-quarter points and Isaac Warp added an and-one to finish a 22-7 first quarter. Rocky Boy did fight back in the second behind the strong post play of Kendall Windy Boy, who would finish the game with 20 points and 17 rebounds.

Thanks to Windy Boy’s efforts, the Stars cut Havre’s lead to 33-22 at halftime, but the Ponies opened the second half on a 14-0 run, with Dane Warp scoring 11 straight points and Isaac Warp finishing the quarter with a 3-point bomb. Havre didn’t let up either as Boles knocked down a triple early in the fourth to put the Ponies up 62-31 in what was a season sweep of Rocky Boy for the second straight year.

And as he did last month in Havre, Dane Warp tortured the Stars, to the tune of 34 points, 11 rebounds and two treys. Rismon added 13 points, while Boles and Isaac Warp each scored six.

Now the Ponies will have one final test. This Thursday in Browning, Havre can win the Central A outright with a win in Browning, which would give the Ponies a No. 1 seed at next week’s Eastern A Divisional.

Havre 62, Lewistown 49

Lewistown 8 9 11 21 – 49

Havre 11 13 11 27 – 62

Lewistown (Fergus) – McKye McCathy 14, Eric Knox 7, Andrew Lalum 2, Hunter Errecart 11, Aurel Konig 3, Dylan Sipe 2, Jace Davis 10. Totals: 15 15-21.

Havre – J. Boles 8, N. Rismon 9, N. Korb 4, D. Warp 29, J. LaBrie 3, I. Aageson 6, Z. Hunt 1, M. Loftus 2. Totals: 20 15-22.

Fouls – Lewistown 18, Havre 18. Fouled out – Konig, Hunt. 3-pointers – Knox, Errecart, Konig, Boles 2, Rismon 2, LaBrie, Aageson 2.

Havre 69, Rocky Boy 45

Havre 22 11 19 17 – 69

Rocky Boy 7 15 5 18 - 45

Havre – Jerod Boles 6, Nate Rismon 13, Nate Korb 2, Dane Warp 34, Jacob LaBrie 1, Isaac Warp 6, Ivar Aageson 2, Zack Hunt 2, Michael Loftus 2. Totals: 17 16-23 69.

Rocky Boy – J. Gopher 2, C. Baker 2, C. Corcoran 9, J. Meontiney 4, B. Iron Eyes 8, K. Windy Boy 20. Totals: 14 11-18 45.

3-pointers: Boles 2, Rismon 1, D. Warp 2, I. Warp 1, Corcoran 1, Iron Eyes 1. Fouls: Rocky Boy 21, Havre 16; Fouled out: Demontiney.