On to the semis for Havre girls

The Havre High girls basketball team faced a daunting challenge Thursday, taking on the defending state champions in their hometown right off the bat.

Yet, it was the Blue Ponies, not the Butte Central Maroons that looked at home in the Butte Civic Center, as Havre led wire-to-wire for an opening-round, 55-41 victory in the quarterfinals of the Class A state tournament.

"The kids played great," HHS head coach Dustin Kraske said. "They executed our gameplan very well."

The win puts HHS (16-6) into the semifinals, where the Ponies will play Columbia Falls at the state tournament for the third straight year. The Wildcats, who downed Laurel with ease, won the two previous meetings in 2015 loser-out action and the 2016 quarterfinals.

If the Ponies were intimidated at all by playing what was essentially a road game at the state tournament, they didn't act like it. Senior Naomi Terry set the tone early with a 3-pointer that gave HHS a 3-0 lead and from there Havre didn't trail. In the second quarter, the Ponies flexed their defensive muscle. Butte Central went almost the entire stanza without a field goal, while a Kyndall Keller three put Havre up 24-15 late in the half. At the break, the Ponies were in front 26-17. In the final stanza, the Maroons made a run. After a hoop by Emily St. John and two free throws by her, Butte Central trailed just 41-37 with 5:03 left in the game.

There was no question, that with the crowd riled up and Butte Central possessing the momentum, Havre needed an answer and Terry was the one to provide it, beating her defender for a layup to make it 43-37.

Terry, who is playing in her last state tournament for Havre, put together one of her finest performances, thanks to a game-high 26 points. Keller also had a stellar outing with 17. The two combined for 78 percent of Havre's points and outscored Butte Central's entire team. Kloie Thatcher had 13 for the Maroons, while Olivier Bolton had 12. St. John's and the state's leading scorer coming in, Mollie Peoples, were both held in check.

"Our defense was outstanding," Kraske said. "We used (Kaylee) Nystrom to faceguard Thatcher, Naomi to faceguard St. John and Kyndall to faceguard Peoples. But our helpers were the key. Ceyara Plante, Danielle Wallace, Rayan VandenBos, Kristen Nash, Marca Herron, they all did a great job."

Tonight's semifinal between Havre and Columbia Falls tips at 6:30 p.m. in Butte.