By Tiffany L. Rehbein
The Havre Blue Ponies girls basketball team sealed the Central A conference title for the second-straight year.
The Blue Ponies (13-4) have 49 seeding points in the No. 1 spot.
Havre, whose strength of schedule has loaned to its No. 1 position, opened the season with a 61-47 loss to third-place Dillon.
Since that time, Havre won seven-straight games until falling to Eastern AA powerhouse C.M. Russell 42-31 at Great Falls. The two meet Thursday at Havre for a rematch.
On Oct. 16, the Blue Ponies fell to the Fergus County Golden Eagles 49-41 in Central A action.
Saturday, top-ranked Class B Malta downed Havre, 45-40.
Senior Tiffany Shrauger is sixth in the division in scoring, averaging 12.1 points per game.
Junior Alyssa Matter is ninth in the division with 105 rebounds on the season.
Junior Nikki Baltrusch leads the Central A with 132 assists, averaging 7.8 assists per game.
The Browning Indians (12-4) are second in the district with 39 seeding points.
Browning boasts the leagues leading scorer in Laura Jo Kipp.
Kipp averages 19.8 points per game. Friday, the Blue Ponies held Kipp to just 14 points en route to a 75-46 pounding over the Indians.
Kipp also leads the league in rebounding with 181 total rebounds on the year.
The Dillon Beavers (12-4) also have 39 seeding points. The Beavers average the highest points per game with 60.4 points per game.
The Belgrade Panthers (11-5) are fourth with 36 points. The Panthers hold their opponents to the fewest points, averaging 42.1 per game.
Lewistown, the fifth team with a winning record in the Central A, has an 11-5 record. They have 35 seeding points.
Butte Central (7-9) has 29 seeding points, Livingston (6-10) has 22 points, and Anaconda (6-10) has 20 points to round out division.
In league action this weekend, Butte Central plays at Livingston, Browning plays at Lewistown, and Dillon plays at Livingston.
Central A Standings
Team
W
L
Pts
Ave
Off
Def
Havre
13
4
49
2.882
52.3
45.3
Browning
12
4
39
2.438
58.5
43.6
Dillon
12
4
39
2.438
60.4
48.5
Belgrade
11
5
36
2.250
49.4
42.1
Lewistown
11
5
35
2.188
58.6
51.8
Butte Cen.
7
9
29
1.813
45.5
51.4
Livingston
6
10
22
1.375
53.4
53.4
Anaconda
6
10
20
1.250
46.3
51.2
Nov.
2 Butte at Anaconda
3 Dillon at Big Sky
4 Butte Central at Whitehall; CMR at Havre; Manhattan at Belgrade
5 Butte Central at Livingston; Lewistown at Billings Central; Anaconda at Hellgate; Cut Bank at Browning
6 Browning at Lewistown; Dillon at Livingston; Boulder at Belgrade.
