Pony girls face Browning in a big finale

In one final night of Central A basketball action, both the Havre High boys and girls basketball team will wrap up the 2014 regular season.

When Havre meets up with the conference rival Browning Indians Saturday, a regular season title is on the line for the Blue Pony girls (6-1, 11-6), while the Blue Pony boys (4-3, 6-11) are playing for bragging rights and momentum.

Saturday in Browning the HHS boys will face the Indians at 5 p.m. And Saturday in Havre the HHS girls will host the Indians at 5 p.m. at Havre Central. In the first meeting in mid January, both Pony squads earned wins. The Pony boys took down the Indians 76-50 at home, and the Pony girls took down the Indians 70-63 in Browning.

For the boys on the road, it will most likely take their best game of the season to get a season sweep over the Indians. And it is important to just play well heading into the divisional tournament in Belgrade. With a win, the Ponies will finish as the No. 2 seed. With a loss, the Ponies will finish as the No. 3 seed. Either way, the Ponies know they will play the Indians in the first round of the Central A divisional tournament next week.

“It would be nice to get the sweep over Browning, and it would be a huge confidence booster,” Havre head coach Curt Leeds said. “Offensively, we are just going to do what we have been doing the last couple of weeks, and, defensively, we might actually work more on our man defense to see what that looks like. We are going to need that at divisionals in those critical times when you do have to get out of your zone.”

The offense the Ponies have run, not only in recent weeks but all season, continues to run through Dane Warp and Kade Rismon. The last time the Ponies ran into the Indians, Warp and Rismon combined for 57 points. But other scorers, including Brian Smith, Jase Kato, and Nate Rismon, have to continue to find ways to produce.

But switching out of their zone, at least for one game, and looking to execute a man-to-man defense, the Ponies will need huge games by any athlete to take the floor. The Indians can get out and run, and they can score in bunches.

“We haven’t came out in our man defense a lot this season,” Leeds said. “This is a good time to test it. But we are also still trying to find a balance on offense, we still need a couple of kids to step up and score consistently. Nate has been shooting the ball better, so if we can get one or two more guys to bump up their scoring, that would be great. But we are also expecting Browning to play us more with their zone-and-trap game, instead of their man.”

The HHS girls are in a different boat. They should almost be considered a shoe-in for a state tournament berth, but they will first go after another regular season title in their final conference game of the season.

Havre defeated Browning earlier in the season in what proved to be a tough road game. This time the Ponies get the Indians in Havre and the winner will clinch the No. 1 spot.

“We will have to defend better,” Havre High head coach Dustin Kraske said. “But our kids are communicating well, rotating well, and they are playing very well together. We are pleased and looking forward to playing, and our kids love playing at Havre Central, it a great environment and it should be a great crowd. It will be a great basketball environment.”

In the first meeting, the Ponies’ defense struggled to stop the Browning attack. Tiara Gilham finished with a game-high 24 points. The Ponies also had to rely on some late-game heroics to reclaim the lead in the final four minutes of play. But if the defense can step up and make a statement early, the Ponies should like their chances even more to win the regular season. It shouldn’t matter if the Ponies are in their press or half court zone, if they show a man look, or come out and trap the Indians, it is going to take a very high level of effort to stop the Indians’ offensive attack.

But the Ponies are also making sure to attack the Indians on offense. Havre has a group of talented guards, and Kraske thinks his team is at its best when they attack the hoop and score inside. Brandy Lambourne, Peyton Filius, Morgan Mazurkiewicz, Lacey Waid and Tori Mazurkiewicz can step out and hit deep jumpers, but the up-tempo style of the Ponies rolls through the completion when the points pour in, in transition.

“They (Browning) haven’t been pressing teams a whole lot, they press a little bit, but they will play a lot of 2-3 zone,” Kraske said. “We are going to have to not settle for jump shots. We have to attack the basket, be aggressive, attack the baseline, and play with confidence.”

Both HHS teams will face Browning Saturday night. The Havre girls host the Indians at Havre Central at 5 p.m.