After a stunning win over top-ranked Anaconda on Thursday, HHS is chased by Miles City and Bigfork from Class A state tournament in Belgrade
Chris Peterson Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com
BELGRADE After pulling off an opening round upset, the Havre High girls basketball team had high hopes for the remainder of the Class A state tournament. But back-to-back losses dashed any hopes of not only a state title but any trophy at all. On Friday night at the Belgrade Special Events Center, the Blue Ponies took on Miles City in the Class A state semifinals with a berth in the championship game on the line. Miles City, the Class A runner-up from a year ago, is no stranger to the big stage and it didn’t take long for the Cowgirls to assume total control of the game. By the end of the first quarter, Miles City had built a 13-9 lead, thanks in large part to eight first-quarter points by star post player Marni Magnuson. Magnuson continued to control the paint in the second quarter and gave Miles City a 20-12 advantage after a three-point play with 3:04 left in the first half. Meanwhile, Havre was ice cold from the field, scoring just four points in the second quarter. By halftime, the Miles City lead had grown to 24-13. Katie Mariani buried a 3-pointer to open the third stanza, but the Cowgirls responded with a 10-2 run to build a commanding 34-16 advantage. HHS showed some life early in the fourth quarter, managing to cut the lead to single digits after a three by Mariani made the score 35-26 with 6:18 left in the game. However, the Ponies never got any closer. They were simply overwhelmed by a superior Cowgirl team in a 51-34 loss. “Miles City just outplayed us,” HHS head coach Dustin Kraske said. “They were just a better team than us tonight. “We just couldn’t get anything going tonight offensively,” he added. “And Miles City had a lot to do with that. But we just didn’t play our best game. Maybe we had a little bit of a letdown, but we aren’t going to make excuses. It just wasn’t our night.” The Ponies’ offensive woes can be traced to a shooting percentage of less than 30 percent from the field and a lackluster 4-of-13 effort from the freethrow line. Mariani was the lone bright spot in the loss for the Ponies. She hit four 3- pointers on her way to a game-high 19 points. Mariani also grabbed seven rebounds in the loss. “I think you have to give (Miles City) all the credit.” Mariani said. “We came out with intensity, but they just played better than we did.” Magnuson notched 17 points for the Cowgirls. Kacee Cooley added 12 points and eight rebounds in the victory. After falling to Miles City, the Ponies attempted to rebound on Saturday morning in loser-out action against Bigfork. Unfortunately for the Ponies, they were not able to shake the offensive struggles that plagued them Friday night. And making things worse, was the fact that the team’s second-leading scorer, Tricia Samson, was out due to an ankle injury she suffered late against the Cowgirls. Havre hung around in the first quarter thanks to a pair of 3-pointers by Lena Suek. But HHS still found itself facing a 16-11 deficit at the end of the first stanza. Things completely fell apart for Havre in the second quarter. The Ponies were held scoreless, allowing Bigfork to outscore them 12-0 in the quarter, as the Valkyries built an insurmountable 28-11 lead. The HHS scoring drought continued into the second half, finally ending after a basket by Steph Stremcha with 4:39 left in the third quarter. After it was all said and done, the drought lasted a total of 11:49. Before the dry spell, Havre only trailed by three points, but by the end Bigfork was ahead by 21 points at 32-11. The Ponies never recovered and went on to lose by a final score of 55-35, eliminating them from the state tournament. Alyssa Fierro scored a game-high 19 points to lead Bigfork to the easy victory. Suek led HHS with nine points as no Pony managed to score in double figures. Miles City went on to capture the Class A state championship by knocking off Glendive 49-42 on Saturday night. Livingston defeated Bigfork to capture third place. “I think that this season was a great success,” Kraske said. “We exceeded all expectations and I think we raised the bar for next season. We will certainly miss Lena and Christina (Armstrong), but I am excited about next season and I couldn’t be more happy with the way the kids played this weekend.”
