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Central A Preview: Pony girls look to continue their reign

HHS heavily favored to win a fourth straight Central A crown this weekend in Great Falls

The Havre High girls basketball team has done exceedingly well in its defense of the 2014 Class A state championship. But now that the regular season is over, the Blue Ponies can finally take their shot at making it back-to-back state championships, starting this weekend in the Central A divisional tournament.

The Blue Ponies, who come into divisionals as the top seed after going 8-0 in the Central A this season, do not yet know their opponent. Havre will play the winner of Belgrade and Livingston and will do so in the semifinals Friday night at 8 p.m. inside the CMR Fieldhouse.

But regardless of who the Ponies play in the semifinals Friday night, head coach Dustin Kraske is more concerned about his team and them continuing to do the little things they have done all season long to be successful.

"We have mostly just been working on us getting better," Kraske said. "Fortunately, (Livingston and Belgrade) play a similar style. At least they were during the season, they both played a lot of 2-3 zone stuff on defense.

"The biggest thing for us will be to sit down and defend; that will be the number one thing," he added. "Regardless of what you are doing offensively, you need to have a consistent effort on defense. You need to play, rebound, defend and if you do all that I think you will be happy with the results, whatever they are."

A big reason why the Ponies were able to put together an undefeated season in the Central A this year has been the play of Morgan Mazurkiewicz, who leads the Central A in scoring at 16.1 points per game.

Mazurkiewicz has been a dominant scorer this year for the Ponies and leads the Central A in free throw shooting, while also being second in 3-point field goal percentage and fourth in 2-point field goal percentage. She is also among the league leaders in steals, assists and rebounding.

The Ponies will need to continue to get strong play from Mazurkiewicz, but from junior Dani Wagner, as well, who has become one of the team's go-to players. Wagner finished fourth in the Central A in scoring with an average of 12.4 points per game, while also being third in the conference in rebounds with 7.2.

Yet, the Ponies have the opportunity to win a fourth straight divisional championship this weekend because they have more than just Mazurkiewicz and Wagner.

Naomi Terry, who is ninth in the Central A in scoring with 10.4 points per game and Lindsey Kurnda, who is fourth in the league in rebounds, also are essential to Havre's success, as are Ceyara Plante, Holly Purkett and Rachel Majeres.

Of the two teams vying to play Havre Friday night, the Ponies swept both easily this season, but if there is a slight favorite to win, it may well be Belgrade (4-14, 2-6) which is led by Alexis Clingingsmith and Alex Singleton.

Livingston (4-14, 1-7) also has some talented players such as Sierra Higgs, Meghan Schoenen and Meghan Gibson, but after losing recently to Belgrade, they will need to play much better if they are going to beat the Panthers, then turn around and upset Havre.

The other semifinal will feature Browning (10-8, 6-2) and Lewistown (6-12, 4-4). The Indians should have the upper hand because they haven't lost to any Central A team outside of Havre this season, and if they win they would play Havre a third time Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. for the championship.

Yet, the Ponies, who are in pursuit of a fourth consecutive divisional title, are the odds-on favorite to win the tournament. But Kraske and HHS don't really care about divisional championships, just state tournament berths.

"The bottom line is that we need to finish in the top two to get invited to the state tournament," Kraske said. "It would be nice to win (a fourth straight title) but getting back to the state tournament is the goal, and that's what we care about."

The 2015 combined Central A divisional tournament begins today and runs through Saturday night at the CMR Fieldhouse in Great Falls. The top two girls teams will move on to next week's Class A state tournament in Hamilton. For a complete Central A bracket, see Page A7.

Central A Team-by-Team

Browning (10-8, 6-2): The Indians, along with Ponies are heavily favored to advance to the state tournament after thoroughly beating every team in the conference outside of Havre. Tiara Gilham and Kaylea Skunkcap lead the way for the Indians, who are one of the leading scoring teams in the Central A.

Lewistown (6-12, 4-4): The Eagles are another team that has a chance to earn a berth at the state tournament after closing the season strong and finishing .500 in conference play. Jaree Mane is the Eagles top player and leads and athletic group of players that also features Tara Olson and Lexie Anderson.

Belgrade (4-14, 2-6): The Panthers are going to need some upsets to advance past this weekend but they have some talent to win a game or two at the very least. Alexis Clingingsmith is their top player along with Alex Singleton and Krista Brown. Others that will contribute are Shania Neubauer and Skyla Neubauer.

Livingston (4-14, 1-7): The Rangers will need to play better than they have down the stretch to make some noise and will depend on Sierra Higgs, Meghan Gibson and Meghan Schoenen to make big contributions.

 

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