Pony boys basketball team rallies for a split at Central A Tipoff Tournament

ByGeorge Ferguson/Havre Daily News Sports/[email protected]

With expectations high and a lot of young but talented players surrounding standout Cory Brothers, the Havre High boys basketball team opened the 2003-04 season this weekend with a two-game split at the Central A Tipoff Tournament in Anaconda.

The Ponies were beaten by a very good Belgrade Panther team, 68-61, on Friday night, but then rebounded to knock off the host Anaconda Copperheads, 64-51, Saturday afternoon.

Before the weekend began, HHS head coach Mark West was concerned about his team's ability to play together early in the season and was hoping for at least a split in the first two games.

"I said that it will take some time for this team to play together and we definitely didn't do that against Belgrade," West said. "But we picked up a great win over an Anaconda team that I thought would give us some trouble in their gym. Overall, I am pleased with the outcome of this weekend."

On Friday, the Ponies got off to a modest start as they kept pace with the Panthers and went into halftime tied at 28-28. However, the Panthers outscored Havre 21-10 in the third quarter to take an 11-point lead. Havre rallied in the fourth period, but fell just short of catching Belgrade in the game's final minutes.

"That is the positive that I take away from the Belgrade game, was that we hung in there and fought all the way to the end," West said. "We did not play very good defense and we couldn't rebound the ball and Belgrade's speed really got to us.

"But our kids didn't quit in the fourth quarter, and we got back in it at the end. I am glad that we were able to do that even when we weren't playing very good basketball."

Brothers led the way for the Ponies with 15 points and Marc Mariani had 14. Tyler Hedalen added 10 points in the loss.

On Saturday, the Ponies played good basketball and quickly fixed the things they did not do the previous night against the Panthers.

Havre jumped out on the much taller Copperheads early and, according to West, took them out of their offensive game plan. The Copperheads managed to keep things close in the first half, but Havre pulled away in the third quarter to record its first win of the season.

"I thought that Anaconda would be a tough game for us, but the kids played much better all the way around," West said. "We rebounded the ball better and we played much better defense. We were also able to control the tempo of the game early and I don't think Anaconda could ever get going on offense.

"Cory Brothers, Tyler Hedalen and Jeremy Giardina all played great defensively against some very good athletes," West added. "I really liked how the whole team responded on Saturday to the loss against Belgrade. We played much better basketball as a result."

Brothers scored a game-high 24 points while Hedalen added 13 points. Giardina also chipped in with eight points for Havre.

The Ponies will now prepare for three games this week against a trio of District 2B schools. Havre will visit archrival Chinook on Thursday night and then travel to Harlem on Friday. The Ponies will play their first home game of the season on Saturday night when they host the Glasgow Scotties.

Belgrade 68, Havre 61

Belgrade 14 14 21 19 - 68

Havre 15 13 10 23 - 61

BELGRADE - Rusy Jones 1 0-0 2, Kraig Rieger 3 1-1 10, Rick Brown 4 1-2 9, Caleb Salsbury 5 4-4 15, Mike Bell 5 3-6 13, Chris Harrington 3 1-4 7, Rex Martin 0 2-5 2, Zach Halgren 2 2-3 6, Jace Hertzog 2 0-0 4. Totals 25 14-25 68.

HAVRE - Marc Mariani 6 0-0 14, Trent Normandy 2 0-0 5, Cory Brothers 6 1-2 15, Jeremy Giardina 2 2-4 7, Tyler Hedalen 4 2-2 10, Bret Magelssen 1 0-2 2, Jared Weigel 1 0-0 2, Tyson Parman 2 2-2 6. Totals 24 7-12 61.

3-point goals - Belgrade 4 (Rieger 3, Salsbury), Havre 6 (Mariani 2, Brothers 2, Normandy, Giardina). Fouls - Belgrade 14, Havre 22. Fouled out - none.

Havre 64, Anaconda 51

Havre 14 13 18 19 - 64

Anaconda 7 21 11 19 - 51

HAVRE - Patrick Wirtzberger 0-1 0-0 0, Marc Mariani 2-4 2-4 7, Trent Normandy 1-4 0-0 2, Cory Brothers 8-18 8-13 24, Gary Wagner 1-2 0-0 2, Jeremy Giardina 2-6 3-6 8, Tyler Hedalen 4-9 5-8 13, Bret Magelssen 2-4 0-2 4, Jared Weigel 1-2 1-1 4. Totals 21-50 19-34 64.

ANACONDA - Nick Villa 0-1 0-0 0, Zane Kenney 0-3 0-0 0, Tyler Hurley 2-6 2-2 7, Anthony Laslovich 0-0 0-0 0, Ryan Blume 4-16 0-3 8, Kyle Quezada 4-10 2-2 12, Rochi Estes 0-7 1-2 1, Casey Ohman 0-0 1-2 1, Zach Parks 6-9 7-9 19, Sam Corey 1-3 0-0 3. Totals

3-point goals - Havre 2-14 (Mariani 1-2, Giardina 1-4), Anaconda 4-22 (Quezada 2-6, Hurley 1-4, Corey 1-1). Total fouls - Havre 16, Anaconda 25. Fouled out - Mariani, Kenney, Quezada. Rebounds - Havre 38 (Brothers 9), Anaconda 27 (Parks 7, Blume 7). Assists - Havre 8 (Mariani 5), Anaconda 6 (Estes 3). Steals - Havre 10 (Brothers 3), Anaconda 7 (Estes 2). Turnovers - Havre 18, Anaconda 17.