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Cold shooting plagues Pony girls

At virtually the same time the Havre High boys basketball team was knocking off the Great Falls High Bison in Havre, the Havre High girls basketball team fell to the Lady Bison in Great Falls 61-46 at the Bison Fieldhouse.

The Ponies held the Bison scoreless in the first four minutes of the game, but struggled to find their own shot as well. According to Havre High head coach Dennis Murphy, missed opportunities plagued the Ponies all night.

"I thought we did a great job against them defensively in the first half," Murphy said. "We hold them scoreless in the first four minutes and during that stretch we had six or seven good looks at the basket, but the shots didn't fall. That seemed to happen to us all game long."

Late in the first quarter the Bison started to find their groove and used a 13-0 run that lasted midway through the second period to give them a 20-6 lead. By the end of the half, the Bison led 31-16 and never really looked back from that point on.

For the half, the Ponies shot a dismal 6-26 and by game's end they shot a frigid 15 of 44 from the field. Murphy admits that when you shoot that poorly on the road you're not going to have much success.

"I am not too disappointed in our play overall," Murphy said. "But we just didn't shoot the ball well at all. Great Falls High is a team that is going to make you pay for that. The one thing I did like is that our offensive execution was good. I hope we get that many open looks at the basket the rest of the season."

The second half saw the Bison push the lead to 45-27 by the end of the third quarter. The Ponies tried to rally late, outscoring Great Falls High 19-16 in the final stanza.

"Like I said before, it just wasn't our night shooting the basketball," Murphy said. "But I told the girls after the game that this is a very solid team we just played and we were able to hang in with them. What we need is for our entire to team to play well at the same time, or we're not going to have a lot of success."

Great Falls high senior guard Michela Schmitz was held in check for the most part by Havre's defense. She scored a game-high 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds but she came into the contest averaging over 27 points a game. Lauren Beck added 11 points to help the Bison's cause.

Havre had three players in double digits led by Carrie Flatau's 13 points. Steph Flatau added 11 points and Amy McLain had 10.

The loss drops the Ponies to 4-6 overall while the Bison are 7-1 following their sixth straight win.

The Ponies will have a full week of rest before returning to action next Friday night when they will host the Harlem Wildcats. Havre will travel to Glasgow on Saturday.

 

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