Chris Peterson
Havre Daily News
cpeterson@havredailynews.com
The Havre High boys basketball team was on a mission to get its season off on the right foot. After two conference wins on the road this weekend, it's safe to say they are definitely headed in the right direction.
Havre High took on the Livingston Rangers on Friday night and earned a hard-fought 73-63 victory to open its 2005-06 campaign.
The Ponies started off well as they grabbed a 22-15 lead at the end of the first quarter. But the scrappy Rangers were determined and would not go away. They took a two-point lead into the intermission.
“We started out well,” HHS head coach John Barnhorst said. “But then it was back and forth. We would go on a run and then they would.”
The struggle continued into the fourth quarter before the Ponies were finally able to put together a series of scores and stops to give them enough cushion to put the game away.
“We got some stops in the fourth quarter and we were able to put a little distance between us,” Barnhorst said. “We had trouble with their guards getting penetration and we got in some foul trouble, but we finally put a run together.”
The Ponies were led by senior Jared Weigel, who had a huge game with 30 points and 12 rebounds. Jeremy Giardina also had a big scoring night with 21 points, and Mike Barton had a solid outing with six points and 10 rebounds. Scott Miller, Jeremiah Moog and Tanner Donovan also contributed with solid minutes off the bench.
Coming off a win in the first game of a two-game road trip, the Ponies went to Belgrade on Saturday looking to complete the sweep. The Ponies did just that as they coasted to a 65-48 victory over the Panthers.
Havre jumped out to a nine-point first-quarter lead and never looked back. Belgrade hung tough in the second quarter and cut the lead to eight points, but the Ponies led 31-23 at halftime.
In the third quarter, the Ponies got a firm grip on the game and never let go as they outscored Belgrade 21-12 in the third period en route to a impressive 17-point win.
“We played well and we were much more consistent,” Barnhorst said. “We played solid defensively and we shot the ball well. We played much better Saturday than we did on Friday.”
The Ponies were led by Giardina with 24 points, including 4 3-pointers. Weigel had another double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Barton also had a double-double for the Ponies as he had 12 points to go with 12 rebounds.
“The kids played well, and they played well together,” Barnhorst said. “We obviously need to improve in some areas like playing better defense, executing on offense, and cutting back on turnovers. But, I am pleased with where we are at and what we did. We just need to continue to get better and we will be fine.”
Havre will be back in action on Thursday night when the Ponies play their first home game of the season, against Class AA Great Falls High. Havre will travel to Cut Bank on Friday night before returning home to host Browning on Saturday.
Havre 73 Livingston 63
Havre 22 11 22 18 - 73
Livingston 15 20 17 11 - 63
Havre - Jeremiah Moog 5, Jeremy Giardina 21, Jared Weigel 30, Logan Grant 8, Tanner Veis 3, Mike Barton 6. Totals: 24 17-29.
Livingston - Ryan Wulf 10, Johnny Kaiser 5, Craig Hutchinson 11, Mychal McNamee 15, Mike Benvenga 11, Andrew Foster 2, Greg Knupp 9. Totals: 26 7-10.
Total fouls - Havre 16, Livingston 23. Fouled out - Benvenga, Foster. 3-pointers - Moog, Giardina 4, Weigel 2, Grant, Wulf 2, McNamee, Knupp.
Havre 65 Belgrade 48
Havre 18 13 21 13 - 65
Belgrade 9 14 12 13 - 48
Havre - T. Donovan 2, J. Giardina 24, J. Weigel 18, L. Grant 5, M. Barton 12, T. Veis 4. Totals: 23 11-17.
Belgrade - K. Knatterud 2, G. Schultz 2, R. Peuse 1, J. Brewer 3, Z. Halgren 14, J. Allmendinger 17, J. Hertzog 6, K. Mickolio 3. Totals: 20 5-14.
Total fouls - Havre 15, Belgrade 17. Fouled out - none. Technical foul - Allmendinger. 3-pointers - Giardina 4, Weigel 3, Grant, Brewer, Allmendinger, Mickolio.
