The Havre High girls basketball team didn’t get off to a good start with this weekend's competition.  But after falling to CMR on Thursday, the Blue Ponies answered back with a win at home.  On Saturday, the Central A Ponies defeated the Great Falls High Bison 63-52 at the Havre High gymnasium.  The Bison were the Ponies' second Class AA opponent of the weekend.  And after losing to the Bison earlier in the season, the Ponies looked like a more developed team the second time around.  “It was good for our kids,” Havre High head coach Dustin Kraske said.  “Great Falls is a good team.  It was good to see kids step up and make shots and to do what we knew they were capable of doing.  I feel fortunate to have beaten them at our place.” To start the game, the Bison went up 9-6.  But after the Ponies outscored the Bison 10-0 in the last 3:30 of the first quarter, they never trailed again.  The Bison outscored the Ponies 19-18 in the second quarter, but at the half the Ponies maintained a six-point lead, 34-28.  HHS went 0-of-5 in the first half from behind the 3-point arc, while the Bison kept the score close on 4-of-7 shooting from three.  In the third quarter the Bison shaved another point off of the Ponies' slim lead.  They outscored the Ponies 13-12 and in doing so cut the lead to 46-41.  But the Ponies stayed consistent down the stretch.  They outscored the Bison 17-11 on three field goals and clutch free throws, gaining muchneeded separation and the 11-point win.  “The kids earned it,” Kraske said.  “They played well and played really well together, which I liked.” The HHS offense looked strong all game long.  They moved the ball well, and made a number of solid passes before throwing up a shot on every possession.  Cassi Darrah led all scorers with 26 points, while Hayley Donovan pitched in 15 of her own.  Alaynna Gray added nine points and Paighton Gillman added seven to lead the Pony offense.  Gray was playing in only her second game of the year, but gave the Ponies a much needed boost.  And though Christina Mack had no points on Saturday, she played for extensive minutes, and played well.  But besides scoring from the lineup, the Ponies earned the win on good free-throw shooting.  The Ponies have struggled to get to the line as much as they would like in recent weeks, but on Saturday that wasn’t the case at all.  They made it to the line 34 times, and shooting over 73 percent, the Ponies knocked down 25.  The Bison went only 8-of-20 from the line.  “That’s the sign of a team that is getting a little more mature as the season progresses,” Kraske said.  Defensively the Ponies had good efforts as well.  They played more physically and did an adequate job shutting down the Bison’s offensive threats.  Brittany Kumm and Brandy Kumm received the majority of the Ponies attention.  And though Brittany Kumm was able to knock down five treys and 22 points, HHS was able to hold Brandy Kumm to just one trey and five points.  Overall, the Ponies played a good game top to bottom.  And with three games coming up this week the timing couldn’t be better.  Tuesday the Ponies (3-4, 4-9) will face Malta at home at 7 p.m. And on Friday HHS will face Lewistown on the road before returning home to face Butte Central on Saturday.