2014-15 HHS Basketball Preview: Blue Pony girls march into a new season

One of the most difficult things to do in sports is handle success. And after defeating Hamilton 52-43 last season to win their first Class A State girl's basketball championship since 1997, that is exactly what the Havre Blue Ponies will need to do.

Havre head coach Dustin Kraske, who enters his ninth season at the helm for the Ponies, has established one of the top programs in Class A basketball. Under his leadership, HHS has made the state tournament seven times in eight seasons and is clearly among the elite programs in Class A. Kraske has accomplished this in large part with two basic principles — tenacious defense and a strong work ethic. And he believes that even though the Ponies have reached the pinnacle, they still possess those two qualities and doesn't see a state championship changing that one bit.

"I don't think (winning state) will change anything that we do," Kraske said. "Our kids had a great summer. I thought our seniors showed tremendous leadership as we prepared for the season. Our kids' expectations along with our coaches will be high, as they always have been, but really our only expectation is try to play the best basketball we possibly can. Then, whatever the results are with that, you have to be pretty happy with it."

While the foundation that Kraske's HHS program has been built on will not change, some of the faces on the floor will, after the Ponies lost their two leading scorers from a season ago, Payton Filius and Brandy Lambourne to graduation. That means a slew of new players will need to step up for Havre to have a chance at defending its state title and it will all start with seniors Morgan and Tori Mazurkiewicz. Morgan Mazurkiewicz is the most experienced player returning for the Ponies as she enters her third season as a starter. Last year, she was Havre's third-leading scorer, averaging 11.1 points per game, while earning All-Conference honors. Tori Mazurkiewicz may not have started a season ago but she was one of eight players to play in every varsity game and was Havre's fifth-leading scorer with an average of 4.2 points per game. In addition to the Mazurkiewicz sisters, Kraske will have two other seniors at his disposal this season in Rachel Majeres, and Lindsey Kudrna, both of whom saw limited action last year.

Junior Dani Wagner, who averaged 2.7 points and three rebounds per game in 17 games for Havre will also play a more prominent role this season, as will fellow junior Holly Purkett and sophomore Naomi Terry. Wagner came on strong at the end of last season, and will be a key player for the Ponies this season.

"As far as our team, I don't think anything will really change. These youngsters just need to find their role within this new team," Kraske said. "We lost a lot of points to graduation essentially, and we need to see who is going to fill the void of that. Defensively, we will pretty much do what we have always done, which is play hard and get after it. But offensively, it's going to be who I am now on this team and try to determine that the first month or so of the season."

Finding a rhythm and an identity on offense may take time for the Ponies but, even if their offense struggles, Kraske's team will rely heavily on its defensive prowess, which has generally been the strength of his teams since he took over as head coach back in 2006.

"I think we will be able to hang our hats on our defense like we always have because our kids take so much pride in it," Kraske said. "There will be nights when we give up a bunch of baskets because that's the nature of high school sports, but defense is something we can hang our hat on."

In addition to winning the state championship a year ago, the Ponies also won their third consecutive Central A Divisional championship, while also winning the regular season title with a 7-1 record in conference play. Havre was 17-6 overall including the postseason. Even with some key players gone, the Ponies are still the favorite to win the Central A regular season title outright for the second year in-a-row and the divisional tournament for the fourth straight time. But according to Kraske there will be plenty of competition from conference rivals Lewistown, Livingston, Belgrade and Browning.

"I think the Central A has proven for the most part that they can hold their own with us," Kraske said. "Lewistown is going to be the most athletic team in the conference, so they will be a handful in my mind. Ray Azure does such a good up there with Browning that they are always going to be competitive. And then there are a couple unknowns with Livingston and Belgrade. If Livingston has all their kids back, they will be senior-laden, which will make them tough. And Belgrade has a new coach, so they need to get their system up and going, so there are some unknowns but I think the league will be pretty good."

And the Ponies will find out soon enough just how good they are as they will open the 2014-15 season against traditional Class B powerhouse Malta inside the HHS gymnasium Friday night. The Ponies also travel to CMR on opening weekend. Even after the opening two games, the Ponies schedule is daunting. Havre will take on Belgrade and Park in a pair of conference road games Dec. 19 and Dec. 20 before getting a brief break for the holidays.

And after the holiday break, HHS must still face Browning and Lewistown twice, as well as non-conference games against powerhouse Fairfield and Conrad among others.

The Central A Divisional tournament will begin Feb. 26 in Great Falls and if Havre makes it, the Ponies will begin their title defense at the Class A State tournament which starts on March 5 in Hamilton.

"(Winning the state tournament) is over," Kraske said. "It was what it was. We celebrated it and enjoyed it, probably not as much as we should have, but we don't talk about defending it or anything. It's a new team and we are concerned with what this group of kids is going to do. Our kids are committed to getting better, and girls basketball in Havre basketball right now is an exciting thing to be a part of. It doesn't mean we aren't going to take our lumps once in a while. We are not going to win 100 games in a row with the schedule we play, that's not realistic. But we are just going to go out and get better every week and be happy with the results, that's the goal."