Going Back: Pony girls make a great run

The Havre High girls basketball team has always played well at divisionals under head coach Dustin Kraske, and this past weekend at the Eastern A Divisional, the Blue Ponies continued that trend.

A 32-30 overtime loss to Billings Central Friday night at the Rimrock Auto Arena, may have cost Havre a shot at the Eastern A title — but it didn’t stop the Ponies from extending their season for one more week.

That’s because after their heartbreaking two-point loss to Billings Central in the semifinals of the Eastern A, the Ponies rebounded and knocked off Miles City 66-57 in overtime Saturday morning to cement a fifth-straight state tournament berth. Then, Saturday night, the Ponies capped off a memorable weekend by taking home the third-place trophy, thanks to a 55-47 win over Lewistown.

“Even though we won all those divisional titles, I am as proud of this team for taking third as I was any of those,” Kraske said. “We put together a gutsy performance in the morning (Saturday) and really took care of business in the afternoon session (vs Lewistown). They are a resilient bunch. I am pretty happy with them.”

When Kraske talks about his team being gutsy, he means coming back from a 5-point deficit with just over a minute to play, which is exactly the situation Havre found itself in against Miles City in a game played at Rocky Mountain College.

Down five, with their season on the line and just 68 seconds on the clock, Dani Wagner and the Ponies went to work. First, Wagner scored two quick buckets, which were countered by one Miles City free throw, meaning the Cowgirls led 55-53 with 40 seconds to go.

Following a timeout, Havre’s Kaylee Nystrom got a hand on Miles City’s inbound pass and deflected the ball right into the hands of Wagner, who corralled it and scored to tie the game. The Cowgirls had two free throws to take the lead soon after, but missed both attempts and the game went to overtime, where Havre scored 11 of 13 points to win 66-57. The Ponies finished the game on a 15-2 run.

“We called a timeout and Nystrom came in,” Kraske said. “Then she put some pressure on the passer ’cause she was going to trap the first pass. She got a tip on the ball. Dani made a play to go get it and she scored. We kind of lucked out, everything that had to go right for us, went right. I guess it was meant to be.”

Wagner, who scored 16 points against Billings Central, followed it up with 26 points against Miles City. Naomi Terry added 14 and Marca Herron had nine.

After knocking off the Cowgirls, the Ponies knew they were going to state, they just didn’t know whether it would be as the third or fourth seed from the East. Yet, after a back-and-forth battle and another stellar performance from Wagner, who scored 21 points, Havre would finish third, thanks to a 55-47 win over their Central A rivals, the Lewistown Eagles.

Much like her Havre counterpart, Dane Warp, Wagner dominated the four-day divisional tournament, scoring 83 points in four games and finishing with an average of 20.75 points per game.

“I would have to think so, yeah,” Kraske said when asked if Wagner was the best player in Class A girls basketball. “Dani had a tremendous tournament and she is playing at such a high level right now that it’s causing some of our other players to play better than they have all year.”

The Ponies, who are headed to their ninth state tournament in 10 years under Kraske’s leadership, will open the Class A state tournament on March 10 vs Columbia Falls in Belgrade.

“I think going in we are really fortunate,” Kraske said. “You look at a lot of the other teams and they have a bunch of seniors and we are doing this with one senior and a bunch of juniors and sophomores. Our younger kids are playing harder and tougher than they have all year. Dani has really turned up her game and so has everyone else in a big way. We are playing well right now.”

Billings Central 32, Havre 30 OT, sf

Central 4 6 10 6 6 – 32

Havre 8 2 7 9 4 – 30

Billings Central – Julianna Arellano 1-4 0-0 2, Morgan Lucas 0-2 0-0 0, Mariah Wittman 6-20 2-2 14, CeCe Paharik 0-2 0-0 0, Jill Hardenbrook 0-4 2-2 2, Natalie Ruegseghger 2-3 6-6 10, Ellie Hanser 0-1 0-2 0, Emily Frey 2-2 0-0 0. Totals: 11-38 10-12.

Havre – Ceyara Plante 0-1 0-0 0, Dani Wagner 4-11 8-9 16, Naomi Terry 3-6 1-1 8, Marca Herron 3-7 0-1 4, Danielle Wallace 0-1 0-2 0, Kristen Nash 1-3 0-0 2. Totals: 10-29 9-13.

Fouls – Central 12, Havre 11. 3-pointers – Central 0-12 (Arellano 0-2, Lucas 0-2, Wittman 0-3, Paharik 0-2, Hardenbrook 0-2, Ruegsegger 0-1), Havre 1-11 (Plante 0-1, Wagner 0-3, Terry 1-3, Herron 0-3, Wallace 0-1).

Havre 66, Miles City 57 OT, lo

Havre 15 15 12 13 11 – 66

Miles City 14 18 6 17 2 – 57

Havre – Ceyara Plante 2-7 0-0 5, Dani Wagner 11-20 3-6 26, Naomi Terry 2-8 9-13 14, Danielle Wallace 3-7 0-0 6, Kristen Nash 3-3 — 6, Kaylee Nystrom 0-1 0-0 0, Marca Herron 3-4 2-2 9, Kyley Verploegen 0-3 0-0 0. Totals: 24-53 0-0.

Miles City – Jenna Swope 2-7 0-0 5, Ashlie Larson 6-11 0-1 14, Abbie Larson 1-7 0-0 3, Halie Warren 6-17 0-2 12, Baylie Rodenbaugh 3-5 4-4 10, Bailee Murnion 0-1 0-2 0, Ashley Venable 1-4 4-8 6, Emily Regan 1-5 2-2 5, Kaelei Koenig 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 21-59 10-19.

Fouls – Havre 17, MC 18. Fouled out – Swope. 3-pointers – Havre 4-12 (Plante 1-2, Wagner 1-4, Terry 1-5, Herron 1-1), MC 5-23 (Swope 1-2, As. Larson 2-4, Ab. Larson 1-4, Warren 0-7, Murnion 0-1, Venable 0-2, Regan 1-3).

Havre 55, Lewistown 48, 3rd

Lewistown 12 14 11 11 – 48

Havre 11 16 17 11 – 55

Lewistown – Hanna Hayes 0-1 0-0 0, Valerie Kolstad 1-4 0-0 2, Ajiah Ross 0-2 5-6 5, Tara Olson 1-5 2-2 5, Carley Southworth 1-6 1-1 3, Paige Towne 0-1 0-0 0, Kyra Fleharty 9-19 1-2 19, Karlie Southworth 0-2 1-4 1, Jaree Mane 4-8 5-7 13. Totals: 16-48 15-22.

Havre – Ceyara Plante 2-5 0-0 6, Ryen Olson 1-1 0-0 3, Dani Wagner 6-14 6-7 21, Naomi Terry 4-17 2-6 12, Marca Herron 2-2 3-3 7, Danielle Wallace 0-3 2-3 2, Camryn Huston 0-0 0-1 0, Kristen Nash 1-2 1-1 3, Kyley Verploegen 0-0 1-2 1. Totals: 16-44 15-23.

Fouls – Lewistown 18, Havre 13. Fouled out – Hayes. 3-pointers – Lewistown 1-5 (Olson 1-2, Carpenter 0-2, Southworth 0-1), Havre 8-16 (Plante 2-4, Olson 1-1, Wagner 3-4, Terry 2-7).