Blue Pony boys start Central A tournament play tonight in the famed Butte Civic Center
Chris Peterson Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com
A lot will be on the line this weekend at the Central A Divisional tournament for the Havre High boys basketball team, with the top prize being a berth in the Class A state tournament. The Blue Ponies have seen their share of highs and lows throughout the year, as they posted a 7-11 overall record. However, the Ponies did manage to go 5-5 in conference play, which was good enough to earn them the third seed in today’s opening round of the divisional tournament in Butte. Led by head coach John Barnhorst, the Ponies will be looking for their second consecutive appearance in the state tournament, and to get there, they will need a repeat of last year’s second-place finish at divisionals. “I think that the kids are excited about the opportunity and they are excited to go down and play,” Barnhorst said. “They know what is going to be on the line, so hopefully we can play well.” Havre will open the tournament tonight against sixth-seeded Livingston (5-13 overall, 2-8 conference) at 7 inside the Butte Civic Center. Havre swept the regular season series with the Rangers, defeating them once at home and once on the road. The most recent meeting took place in Havre back on Jan. 20, a game that the Ponies won handily by the score of 55-35. A big key for the Ponies in each of the two contests was their ability to take advantage of the Rangers’ lack of interior size. Michael Sharp averaged 10 points a game against Livingston this year and fellow big-man Andy Pester averaged 9.5 points, giving HHS a distinct edge in the paint. “In our two games earlier this season we were able to take advantage of our size,” Barnhorst said. “Both Mike and Andy played well and scored some points for us and I think that was a big reason why we were successful.” If HHS can establish an inside presence with Sharp and Pester on the offensive end, it will certainly free up open looks for the Ponies plethora of outside shooters, such as leading scorer Chris Brandt, as well as Chris Owens and Tony Filler. Brandt leads the Ponies with an average of 12.4 points per game. Filler scores a little over seven points a game, but is deadly from beyond the arc, shooting 42 percent from 3-point range on the year. Havre will also depend heavily on senior Jeremiah Moog, who is arguably the Ponies’ best all-around players with an average of 7.8 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. “We are going to have to shoot the ball well this weekend if we want to have success,” Barnhorst said. “We need to be patient, take good shots and we really need to cut down on our turnovers. If we can do those things, we can give ourselves a chance to win.” Livingston will present the Ponies with a slightly different look than when the two teams met last. The biggest difference for the Rangers will be that they will finally have star guard Rex Allen completely healthy. Allen leads the Rangers in scoring at just under 11 points per game, so getting him back to full strength with give the team a much-needed boost. Along with Allen, Livingston will count on fellow guard Miles Gravage, who averages over eight points a game and forward Keenan Brame, who is the teams leading rebounder. “Livingston has been playing very well as of late,” Barnhorst said. “They beat Lewistown in the last week of the regular season and they have won two of their last three games. “I think having Allen back healthy has made a big difference,” he added. “So if we don’t play well, there is no reason why they can’t beat us. They are playing with a lot of confidence right now.” If the Ponies do end up defeating Livingston, they will move on to the semifinals where they would go headto- head with second-seeded Butte Central. The Maroons (11-7 overall, 7-3 conference) are the defending tournament champions and bring the conference’s leader in scoring in Matt Ritter (18.1 ppg) to the table. Butte Central will play the winner of the Havre and Livingston game in the semifinals on Friday at 7 p.m. The other first-round matchup will feature fourth-seeded Belgrade (6-12 overall, 3-7 conference) against fifthseeded Lewistown (4-14 overall, 3-7 conference). That game will begin today at 1. Belgrade is the most physical team in the Central A and is sparked by the duo of leading scorer Kole Mickolio (11. 2 ppg) and Jimmy Hook (10.2 ppg). Lewistown will answer will the talented backcourt pairing of Evan Stokken (12. 6 ppg) and Craig Nelson (12.2 ppg). The winner of Lewistown/Belgrade will advance to play top-seeded and No. 2 -ranked Browning (18-0 overall, 10-0 conference) in the other semifinal Friday at 1 p.m. The Indians own the deepest and most talented team in the Central A conference led by Jordan Long Time Sleeping (12.2 ppg) and DJ Fish (11.9 ppg). Browning easily won the regular season title and will look to add the tournament title to its resume. The Central A boys tournament will being today and will last through Saturday with all games taking place at the Butte Civic Center. Havre and Livingston will tip off tonight at 7. The championship game will take place Saturday night at 7 p.m
