Friday's Prep Basketball: Ponies suffer heartbreaker in semifinals

The Havre High boys basketball team was intent on getting to the Class A state championship game and played like it against the Dillon Beavers. And when Nate Rismon’s final 3-point attempt was in the air, every Blue Pony player had to believe it was going in, only in the end, it didn’t.

Unfortunately for Havre, Rismon’s potential game-winning shot went halfway down before popping out and giving Dillon the dramatic 60-58 win in the semifinals of the Class A state tournament Friday in Bozeman at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.

In the early going, the game felt a lot like Havre’s win in the quarterfinals over Billings Central on Thursday night as the Ponies came out of the gates firing on all cylinders. Jerod Boles set the tone with an opening trey and thanks to threes by Dane Warp and Nate Rismon, Havre built an 18-8 advantage after a 14-2 run.

Yet, the Beavers haven’t dominated Class A basketball for the past decade without reason and closed the first quarter on a 6-0 run to trim the Havre lead to 18-14. Then, after a back and forth second quarter, Dillon took a razor thin 29-28 advantage into halftime.

Rismon opened the third quarter with a trey to put the Ponies back in the lead and after a score by Jase Kato, Havre led 34-29 after a 6-0 run to start the second half. But, Dillon again answered by hitting some outside shots of their own and with eight minutes to go, the Beavers held a 44-42 lead.

Boles gave Havre the one-point edge early in the fourth with a three but the advantage didn’t last long as Dillon answered with an 8-1 run to take a six-point lead. The Beavers maintained that advantage until the final minute when 3-pointers by LaBrie and Boles, the second of which game with 59 seconds left, got Havre within two at 58-56.

With just over 30 seconds left and HHS still trailing by two, Rismon got a steal and Havre got the break it needed. After a timeout with 27 seconds remaining, the ball found its way to Rismon for the final shot, which rimmed out in heartbreaking fashion.

Warp led all scorers in the game with 20. Michael Bakke pitched in with 10 for Havre, while Boles and Rismon each added nine.

Havre is still alive for third place but will need to knock off Columbia Falls Saturday morning at 11 a.m., in order to get into the consolation game tomorrow night, which is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

Friday did see the Rocky Boy Stars bounce back from the opening-round loss at the Class B state tournament in Great Falls. Rocky Boy beat Big Timber in a loser-out game and will take on Bigfork Saturday morning to stay alive.

For complete state tourney coverage, see Monday's Havre Daily News.

Friday's Scores

The Associated Press

BOYS BASKETBALL

State AA

Loser Out

Bozeman 52, Missoula Sentinel 39

Missoula Hellgate 75, Missoula Big Sky 37

Semifinal

Billings Skyview 53, Helena Capital 39

Billings West 74, Great Falls 68

State A

Loser Out

Billings Central 54, Polson 52

Columbia Falls 66, Belgrade 64

Semifinal

Dillon 60, Havre 58

Laurel 58, Butte Central 55

State B

Loser Out

Columbus 85, St. Labre 57

Rocky Boy 54, Big Timber 53

Semifinal

Choteau 62, Bigfork 53

Missoula Loyola 71, Huntley Project 61

State C

Loser Out

Manhattan Christian 68, Broadview-Lavina 40

Mon-Dak 76, Northern Cheyenne 54

Semifinal

Belt 67, Arlee 65

Fairview 47, Highwood 44

GIRLS BASKETBALL

State AA

Loser Out

Billings Senior 52, Missoula Big Sky 34

Kalispell Glacier 51, Great Falls Russell 42

Semifinal

Bozeman 50, Missoula Sentinel 46

State B

Loser Out

Columbus 45, Plains 44, OT

Manhattan 54, Bigfork 50

Semifinal

Malta 44, Forsyth 42