By George Ferguson/Havre Daily News Sports/gferguson@havredailynews.com
The Browning boys basketball team has a secret that very few high school basketball teams knew about - they know exactly how to beat the Havre Blue Ponies.
The Indians knocked off the Ponies in the regular season finale for both teams last Saturday night and on Thursday night at the Central A divisional basketball tournament at the Belgrade Special Events Center, the Indians shocked the Ponies for a second time, 77-72.
Unlike their meeting last Saturday where the Indians basically blew the Ponies out for three quarters, Thursday's semifinal was a tightly contested game throughout.
The Ponies grabbed a 16-14 lead after the first quarter. Both teams' offenses then heated up in the second period. By the time the dust settled on the first half, Havre clung to a 1-point, 37-36 lead.
The Indians finally pulled even with Havre by the end of the third quarter and then basically outplayed the Ponies in the game's final four minutes. In that stretch, Browning's Scott Raining Bird took over the game, scoring several critical buckets and knocking down a string of free throws in the final two minutes that allowed the Indians to hold on for the huge upset.
While Havre was able to stay close and had several chances to get the game under control in the fourth quarter, HHS head coach John Barnhorst could do nothing but give credit to the Indians' stellar play in the second half.
Browning shot an astounding 16-of-18 from the field in the second half and were a perfect two for two from the three-point line. The Indians were also nearly perfect from the free-throw line when it mattered most.
"Browning just played amazing in the second half and we had no answer for them defensively," Barnhorst said. "It is tough to defend a team that shoots 78 percent from the field in the second half. It wasn't like we played bad defense either. But we just could not slow them down."
As a team, Browning did in fact shoot the lights out in the second half, but Raining Bird carried the Indians home. He scored 28 points and was 8-11 from the foul line. The Indians also got 15 unexpected points from reserve Ryan Augare.
"Raining Bird was unstoppable tonight," Barnhorst said. "We did everything we could do to stop him and nothing worked. We just could not keep him in front of us."
Of course, the Ponies didn't exactly play bad basketball either. Havre shot better than 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from the free-throw line.
The Ponies got a huge effort from senior Marc Mariani, who scored a team-high 17 points and dished out four assists. He also came up with six of Havre's ten steals on the night. Ty Hedalen chipped in with 14 points, but their efforts weren't enough to slow down the red-hot Indians.
"We played pretty well offensively," Barnhorst said. "And we cut down on our turnovers. But we just couldn't get the stops when we needed them the most and Browning outplayed us in crunch time."
Browning's second straight win over Havre has daunting implications for the Ponies' state tournament chances. Havre drops into loser-out play and will have to win two games in order to finish third. The Ponies will also have to hope that the Indians knock off perhaps the hottest team in the tournament - Butte Central.
The Maroons shocked the host Belgrade Panthers in the second semifinal Thursday night, 60-55, to make it a very surprising championship game. If the Indians falter against Butte Central, the Havre's season will end without reaching the state tournament in Butte.
The Ponies will be back in action this afternoon when they will face Livingston at 3:30 p.m. Today's other loser-out boys game pits Belgrade against Lewistown.
Central A/Belgrade
Browning 77, Havre 72
Browning 14 22 16 25 - 77
Havre 16 21 15 20 - 72
BROWNING (8-12)
Ryan Augare 7-8 0-0 15, Scott Raining Bird 9-17 8-11 28, Jordan Running Wolf 3-3 2-2 8, Andrew Sellers 2-3 5-5 9, Jared Wolf Tail 0-1 2-4 2, Marcus Mad Man 6-8 0-0 13, D.J. Fish 1-2 0-1 2. Totals 28-42 17-23 77.
HAVRE (15-4)
Mark Mariani 4-9 7-9 17, Gary Wagner 2-2 1-2 5, Jared Weigel 4-10 0-0 9, Tyson Parman 3-3 1-2 7, Ty Hedalen 5-10 4-5 14, Patrick Wirtzberger 1-5 0-0 2, Jeremy Giardina 3-6 0-2 9, Mike Barton 3-5 3-5 9, Coda Tchida 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-50 16-25 72.
3-point goals - Browning 4-12 (Augare 1-1, Raining Bird 2-7, Mad Man 1-2, Sellers 0-1, Wolf Tail 0-1), Havre 6-16 (Wirtzberger 0-3, Mariani 2-5, Giardina 3-5, Weigel 1-3). Rebounds - Browning 24 (Running Wolf 7), Havre 23 (Hedalen 8). Assists - Browning 7 (Raining Bird 3, Wolf Tail 3), Havre 12 (Mariani 4, Weigel 4). Steals - Browning 6 (Raining Bird 2, Running Wolf 2), Havre 10 (Mariani 3, Weigel 3). Blocks - Browning 0, Havre 0. Turnovers - Browning 21, Havre 15. Fouls - Browning 20, Havre 21. Fouled out - Sellers. Technicals - none.
Butte Central 60, Belgrade 55
Belgrade 15 11 16 13 -- 55
Central 14 19 10 17 -- 60
BELGRADE (13-6)
Kraig Rieger 3-10 3-3 10, Rick Brown 9-16 3-6 20, Rusty Jones 1-3 0-0 2, Rex Martin 2-4 2-3 6, Jake Allmendinger 3-4 0-0 6, Rowdy Peuse 0-1 1-2, Zack Halgren 1-5 0-0 2, Brad Westmoreland 0-2 1-3 1. Totals 19-45 10-17 55.
BUTTE CENTRAL (12-8)
Jake Stagnoli 3-7 1-4 8, Shaughn McKeon 3-7 8-8 15, Matt Ritter 2-4 1-1 5, Stephan Burns 3-7 3-4 9, Alex Murphy 5-8 5-7 18, Matt Pokorny 1-2 0-0 3, Matt Crowe 0-0 0-1 0, Clay McQueary 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 18-37 18-25 60.
3-point goals - Belgrade 7-21 (Peuse 0-1, Rieger 1-6, Brown 6-11, Jones 0-2, Westmoreland 0-1), BC 6-14 (Stagnoli 1-1, McKeon 1-3, Pokorny 1-2, Ritter 0-2, McQueary 0-1, Murphy 3-5). Rebouds -- Belgrade 28 (Martin 6), BC 27 (Murphy 6, Burns 5). Assists -- Belgrade 11 (Rieger 4, Brown 4), BC 11 (McKeon 4, Stagnoli 3). Steals - Belgrade 5 (Five with 1), BC 8 (Stagnoli 2, McKeon 2, Ritter 2). Blocks -- Belgrade 0, BC 2 (Stagnoli, Murphy). Turnovers - Belgrade 12, BC10. Fouls - Belgrade 21, BC 18. Fouled out - Allmendinger. Technicals - none.
