Pony girls open with Malta tonight

There were eight girls basketball teams that were able to play in a state championship game last season in Montana. And two of them will meet tonight inside the HHS gymnasium.

The Havre Blue Ponies, who are the defending Class A state champions will host the Malta M-Ettes, who were the runner-up in Class B, in a marquee matchup to open the 2014-15 season for both teams. The Ponies will be playing their first home game since defeating Hamilton 52-43 to win their first state championship since 1997. While Malta is getting back in the saddle for the first time since a heartbreaking 60-55 loss in double overtime in the state title game to Fairfield. The game will tip-off tonight at 6.

Despite being the defending state champions, the Ponies will have plenty of work to do early in the season, especially with the loss of their two-leading scorers, Peyton Filius and Brandy Lambourne to graduation, as well as starters Lacey Waid and Haley Ohm. But, HHS does return plenty of players with varsity experience, headlined by Morgan Mazurkiewicz, who is top scorer back for Havre after averaging 11.1 points per game last season. Tori Mazurkiewicz, Morgan's sister, will also play a vital role on the team after averaging just over four points a game last season. But in addition to the Mazurkiewicz sisters, Havre head coach Dustin Kraske will also have seniors Rachel Majeres and Lindsey Kudrna at his disposal, as well as junior Dani Wager and sophomore Naomi Terry, who will each be counted on to fill the scoring void left by Filius and Lambourne.

“I think we have a few kids that can score kind of like we had last year,” Kraske said. “Morgan can score certainly. Tori can score, Dani can score, I would expect Naomi to score. I think it’s going to be a spread out effort. That’s kind of our goal.”

Havre will be looking for its offensive identity, but Malta, on the other hand, already has one. The M-Ettes come into the game with an experienced roster that features Sophia Stiles, who is a preseason All-State selection in Class B and is one of the main reasons why they are once again considered state title contenders.

“(Stiles) is a big-time player,” Kraske said. “But, she is not the only good player that they have. They just have a really good all-around team in my opinion. And knowing Malta, they probably played all summer, so they will probably be a little ahead of most teams at this particular junction in the season.”

The Ponies did manage to win a state title last season but one thing they could not do was conquer the M-Ettes. Malta knocked off the Ponies 47-37 in the 2013-14 season opener, then beat HHS 53-37 in Havre later in the season, which should make things even more interesting in the battle between two old-school rivals.

“They are a very good basketball team,” Kraske said. “They are well-coached, and we are going to have to handle their maturity because they have more experience playing together than we do. They will pose a lot of problems. They are good defensively and they will be good offensively and we will have to handle those things.”

After taking on Malta tonight, Havre will travel to Great Falls on Saturday to go head-to-head with Class AA rival CMR. That game will get underway at 4:30 p.m., in the CMR Fieldhouse.

Last season, the Ponies swept their AA rivals from the south and will look to get their first road win of the season against a Rustlers team that is hoping to bounce back from a disappointing 4-17 campaign. The Rustlers boast a couple of talented guards highlighted by Taylor Edwards, who averaged 9.6 points per game in 2013-14 as well as Lindsay Martinez, who will play the point.

“(CMR) had a tough year last year but they have a great player in Edwards. She is going to be a handful,” Kraske said. “She shoots well and finishes very well at the basket. And any time we play on the road in our non-conference schedule it’s very difficult.

After two difficult non-conference games to open the season, the Ponies will have a much better idea of where they stand and what they need to do to improve. But as far as Kraske is concerned, when it comes to the non-conference, the tougher the better.

“I love (our schedule),” He said. “I think it’s great and it helps us get better.”

Havre will open tonight against Malta, with the start time set for 6. Then, HHS will take on CMR Saturday in Great Falls with the tip-off set for 4:30 p.m.