Going Back: Ponies thump Rangers

GREAT FALLS - The Havre Blue Ponies could have had a built-in excuse not to play well in a do-or-die Monday night Central A challenge game. The Blue Ponies could have been still looking back at their heartbreaking double-overtime loss to Belgrade in Saturday night's divisional championship game. And no one would have blamed them.

But that isn't the nature of the 2014-15 Blue Ponies. That isn't how they're built. Instead, the Ponies returned to the CMR Fieldhouse for a challenge game against the Livingston Rangers Monday night, full of confidence and fully looking forward to doing whatever it took to make sure they punched their ticket to their second straight Class A state tournament.

And punch their ticket the Ponies did. Havre ran away from the Rangers 60-41 Monday night, in what was the last-ever Central A tournament game. But more importantly, the Ponies clinched their place in next week's state tournament in Bozeman.

"This group has been resilient all season," HHS head coach Curt Leeds said. "They've gone through a lot. We had some injuries mid-season, some sickness mid-season, some tough losses, we've kind of been through it all. And never once have they put their heads down and they weren't going to tonight.

"We weren't looking back," added HHS senior Michael Bakke. "We came in here ready tonight. We played hard. We always play hard. And we're only looking forward. We were over what happened against Belgrade, and we're riding high and feeling good now."

It didn't take long for the Ponies to feel good about their chances against the Rangers, who they swept during the regular season. Livingston slipped ahead 5-2 to start the game, but a 3-pointer by Jerod Boles started an 8-0 run, which was capped by a triple from Jacob LaBrie as Havre took a 15-8 lead after the first eight minutes.

Boles would add back-to-back treys early in the second quarter, and though Livingston countered for a short time, the Ponies closed the first half on a 7-0 run which included layups by Bakke and Jase Kato, as well as a 3-point bomb by Nate Rismon, Havre's fifth of the half.

"We have shooters," Leeds said. "Dane (Warp), (Jerod) Boles, Nate (Rismon), LaBrie, Nate Korb, they can all shoot the ball, and we have confidence in every one of them. And when they shoot it like they did tonight, it really loosens things up for us, and that's kind of how the first half went for us. I felt like we were really getting what we wanted offensively."

If Havre was doing what it wanted offensively in the first 16 minutes, the next eight were even better. Warp, coming off his 41-point outburst Saturday night, hit a corner trey to extend the HHS lead to 32-19. Then, the Ponies really got going in the paint, as both Bakke and Rismon found easy layups in what was a 12-3 HHS run that put the Ponies up 40-24 at the end of three quarters.

From there, Havre could taste victory and could see Bozeman's Brick Breeden Fieldhouse, the sight of the state tourney.

Though Livingston made a 9-2 run to close to 45-36 with five minutes left in the game, the resilient Ponies weren't going to let victory slip away. Kato and Bakke stopped the run with back-to-back buckets, and Boles made four free throws via a technical foul, and from there, any chance of a Ranger comeback was squashed.

In the dominating win, Havre was balanced in the book. Boles led all scorers with 15 points, including three bombs, while Rismon notched 13, Bakke chipped in with 12 and Warp scored 11. The Rangers did a good job of taking some of what Warp does so well away, but he still made his presence known in other ways, and plenty of Ponies took advantage of the Ranger's decision to key on HHS's star guard.

"Dane got box-in-one'd the whole game," Leeds said. "But he still did great things. The bottom line is, if you're going to do that, you're going to leave other guys open. Dane has such a great presence and great court vision and he was finding guys out of that all night, and those guys made shots. Dane is just such an intelligent player like that, he makes plays no matter what he's faced with."

Havre was also making plays on the defensive end. The Ponies held the Central A's second-leading scorer, Ladan Ricketts to a mere three points on 1-of-10 shooting. The Rangers also coughed up 19 turnovers, while Bakke and Kato both reached double figures on the boards.

No, Havre (14-7) played a complete game when it needed too most, and under some intense pressure, as the Ponies were facing their season ending if they didn't get by the Rangers Monday night. But, as Leeds said the Ponies have done all year, they faced adversity head on, and now they're heading to the state tournament once again.

"I think we're capable of winning many games there," Warp said of Havre's chances next week in Bozeman. "If not all of them.

"Our kids are always ready to compete," Leeds said. "They come in and compete every day. And tonight was no different. I'm really proud of them for the way they came in here ready to play tonight."

Havre will now have a week to rest before heading to Bozeman for the state tournament March 11-13. In the opening round, the Ponies will face Eastern A champion Billings Central.

Ponies 60, Livingston 41 (2nd)

Livingston 8 11 5 17 – 41

Havre 15 13 12 20 – 60

Livingston: Rydell Floyd 3-7 6-7 13, Sterling Lay 3-7 0-0 6, Connor Amsk 1-3 2-2 4, Jordan Lehrer 2-10 0-0 5, Jakim Ricketts 2-3 0-0 6, Ladan Ricketts 1-10 1-1 3, Zander Petrich 0-1 0-0 0, Joey Overstreet 2-3 0-0 4. Totals: 14-44 9-10.

Havre: Jerod Boles 3-10 6-8 15, Nate Rismon 4-9 3-4 13, Dane Warp 4-10 2-2 11, Jacob LaBrie 1-2 0-0 3, Michael Bakke 5-8 2-4 12, Jase Kato 2-3 2-5 6. Totals: 19-42 15-23.

Fouls: Livingston 16, Havre 7. Fouled out: Amsk. Technical fouls: Amsk. 3-pointers: Floyd 1, Lehrer 1, Jakim Ricketts 2, Boles 3, Rismon 2, Warp 1, LaBrie 1.