By Kim Staudinger
The Havre Blue Ponies girls basketball team realized last weekend just how unprepared for the season they were.
Coach Dennis Murphy hopes to use the two games against Harlem and Glasgow this weekend as a way for his team to work on things that hurt it at last weekend's Tip-off Tournament in Livingston.
"We are not looking at who we are playing right now," he said. "We are working on the things we need to get better at."
Murphy says he doesn't know much about either team the Ponies will face this weekend, but simply hopes his team plays well.
"We talked about what we have to do to get better," he said. "But I just want us to play well. I am hoping after a week of practice that we are ready."
"We have never played against Harlem, but from what we have heard, we can't underestimate them," senior Julie Wagner said. "Hopefully we play with confidence, not the nerves we had last weekend."
Murphy said even though Glasgow graduated a lot of players last year, the Scotties are used to being successful and come from a program with great tradition.
"Traditionally we play very well in Glasgow," he said. "But kids who experience success in a program expect that success to continue, just like we do."
"We have to come out and play our A game," Katie Miller said. "We need to be aggressive, but smart."
Wagner agreed with Miller, saying the Ponies need to cut back on turnovers if they want to be competitive this weekend.
Alysia Kato also said the Ponies have a lot of things to work on to get to where they want to be, including working the ball to the posts, but hopes these two games will allow the team to work out some of the kinks.
"It will be a good game for us to get organized," she said.
The freshmen game against Harlem has been canceled due to Harlem not having enough players. The junior varsity game will begin at the regular time, 5:45 p.m., with the varsity game to follow at 7:30.
