Second-half surge leads Bison past Pony girls

For the first 22 minutes of Thursday night's game the Havre High girls basketball team showed why it's ranked No. 2 in Class A. But, it was the final 16 minutes that hurt the Ponies as the No. 5 ranked Class AA Great Falls High Bison withstood Havre's solid first-half surge and rallied for a 69-63 win.

The Ponies were overwhelmed by a 25-6 Bison scoring run over the span of the game's final 10 minutes, which made the final outcome much more lopsided the than game actually was.

"I thought the we played a great first half of basketball and it was an exciting game at that point," said HHS veteran head coach Dennis Murphy. "But we got the turnover bug at the end of the third quarter and the Bison shooters really got hot and took the game over."

Indeed, the Ponies did play one of their most complete halves of basketball this season. Havre opened the game, scoring the first eight points of the contest before junior guard Loren Beck finally put the Bison on the scoreboard with a three-pointer.

From that point, the two teams traded multiple three-pointers, with Beck getting hot for the Bison. Jolene Fuzesy and Steph Flatau answered for the Ponies from behind the arc, propelling Havre to a 18-15 first quarter lead.

The second quarter continued to see both teams continue their torrid shooting pace. Fuzesy drilled three more treys including one at the buzzer, and Alicia Overcast also added a three-pointer as Havre stayed hot from outside.

The Bison were able to remain within three points of the hot-shooting Ponies by going inside to Mary Galloway and getting a couple more outside shots from Beck as Havre clung to a slim 36-33 lead at intermission.

"We did everything we wanted to do in the first half," Murphy said. "We were very patient on offense and we executed very well and made open shots. I thought our preparation showed in the first half and we played really good basketball."

"However, (Great Falls) made some adjustments defensively and offensively in the second half," Murphy continued. "And we didn't counter those adjustments. (Sarah) Stubbs and Beck really got hot in the second half and we turned the ball over. The game just got away from us."

The Ponies continued to hold onto the lead until the 3:33 mark of the third quarter when Beck drilled a running jumper in the lane that gave the Bison their first lead of the contest at 43-41.

The Ponies managed to take the lead back with less than two minutes left in the quarter when Overcast drilled a jumper to tie the game at 45-45 and Flatau made a layup to give Havre the lead at 47-45.

That would be as close to victory as the Ponies would get. Great Falls High converted two straight Havre turnovers into points and scored six quick points in the final 38 seconds of the quarter. That 6-0 run that started in the third quarter eventually turned into the 25-6 run that would finish the Ponies off.

The difference in the last 10 minutes of the game was clearly Stubbs, who scored 14 of her team-high 22 points during that stretch, including four long-range treys.

"In the end, the turnovers definitely hurt us," Murphy said. "But Stubbs had a great second half. She got free and knocked down some big shots. She and Beck are tremendous shooters and they both had great games tonight.

"I think that we were very well prepared and the kids played really hard," Murphy added. "But the turnovers and their defensive adjustments on us in the second half really hurt us in the end. That combined with Beck and Stubbs shooting the ball so well in the second half, we just couldn't overcome all of that."

Stubbs' 22 points led three Bison players in double figures. Beck poured in 19 points including two three-pointers. Sam Schermerle added 15 points for Great Falls.

Havre got a game-high 28 points from Fuzesy, including five threes. Flatau added 13 points while Overcast chipped in with eight.

The win pushes the Bison's record to 6-1 this season while the Ponies fall to 6-3 overall.

"Our effort was really good tonight and we played with GFH for three quarters," Murphy said. "But hopefully we can learn from this game, especially that we cannot afford those turnovers at critical times and we still have some work to do defensively."

The Ponies will be back in action on Jan. 16 when they host the Harlem Wildcats. Havre will also host Glasgow on Jan. 17.

Great Falls High 69, Havre 53

Havre 18 18 11 6 - 53

Great Falls High 15 18 18 18 - 69

GFH - Sam Schermele 15, Sarah Stubbs 22, Brittany Deffinbaugh 4, Kiri Winkler 4, Mary Galloway 5, Lauren Beck 19.

Havre - Alicia Overcast 8, Amy McLain 4, Steph Flatau 13, Jolene Fuzesy 28.

Total fouls - Havre 13, GFH 10. Fouled out - None. Three-point goals - Overcast 1, Flatau 1, Fuzesy 5, Stubbs 4, Beck 2.