Havre girls fall to Columbia Falls in Class A semifinals

BUTTE - The Havre High girls basketball team came into Friday night's game with Columbia Falls just one win short of playing for the Class A state championship, but thanks to an epic third-quarter run by the Wildcats, Havre ultimately fell short, 55-42.

Columbia Falls, which has finished second and third at the state the past two seasons, beat the Blue Ponies for a third straight year at the state tournament, this time in the semifinals inside the Butte Civic Center.

The game was close much of the way. The Ponies trailed 15-6 at the end of the first quarter and were down seven late in the first half, when a 3-pointer by Naomi Terry and a long jumper by her trimmed the Wildcats lead to 21-19 at intermission.

Early in the third quarter, after a Kaylee Nystrom triple, Havre led 25-24. Yet, Columbia Falls responded with an 11-0 run to end the third quarter and it was never really a game again as the Wildcats went on to win by 13.

The Ponies will turn around and play Corvallis Saturday morning in loser-out action at 9:30 a.m. If Havre wins, it will play for third place Saturday night.

For more coverage on the Ponies at the state tournament, see Monday's edition of the Havre Daily News.