Two to Go: Ponies buck the Broncs

The Havre Blue Ponies were as hot as any team in the field entering the first day of the 2016 Class A state tournament. But for a time, that didn’t seem to matter to the up-start Hamilton Broncs.

Still, one thing that Hamilton couldn’t cool off was the scoring machine that is Blue Pony senior Dane Warp as he and teammate Jerod Boles helped guide the Blue Ponies back from a 14-4 first-quarter in deficit to a 58-49 first-round win Thursday afternoon at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula.

“We got off to a pretty terrible start,” said HHS head coach Curt Leeds, whose team advanced to the Class A semifinals for the second straight year. “But at the state tournament, it’s all about survive and advance, and we did enough today to do that.”

The start was rough for the Blue Ponies, who committed costly turnovers in the first period. But, as well as Hamilton was taking advantage of that on the offensive end, there was little the Broncs could do about Warp, or Boles for that matter.

Warp scored seven points in the second quarter, and Boles buried a triple to help bring Havre back to within striking distance at 23-19 at halftime. Hamilton wouldn’t go away however, and midway through the third period, the Broncs had built up a 35-25 lead, and a shot at a state championship was starting to look bleak for the Ponies.

But then, Havre’s two seniors got hot, and everything changed. Warp and Boles nailed back-to-back threes to pull the Ponies to within four. Warp kept on going, and despite playing with a sinus infection, Hamilton was powerless to stop him. Warp would eventually score 24 points in the second half, including back-to-back 3-point plays that lifted Havre to its first lead at 38-37. In all it was a 15-2 run sparked by Boles’ third trey of the game. The Broncs kept fighting though, and the Ponies led just 40-39 entering the fourth period.

However, Havre’s offense had been awakened, and a couple more and-ones by Warp helped HHS outscore the Broncs 18-10 in the final eight minutes, and push through to tonight’s semifinal against rival Billings Central.

“Really, we just got much more aggressive offensively in the second half,” Leeds said. “Not just with our shooting, but with getting the ball inside and letting that open up shots for us. We didn’t even come close to getting the ball inside in the first half, but we were much better with that in the second, and obviously, Dane and Jerod really carried us offensively the rest of the way.”

Warp finished with 33 points and nine rebounds, his third straight postseason game in the 30s. Boles would add a big 17 points, on four triples, while Nate Rismon chipped in late, getting a basket inside to put Havre up 55-49 in the final minute. He finished with six points.

Surprise Rematch

When Havre’s game with Hamilton was over, the Blue ponies expected to watch favored Polson battle Billings Central, anticipating a showdown with the Pirates tonight. But, it’s the state tournament and things don’t always work out that way. So, with the Rams’ 47-43 win over the Pirates Thursday afternoon, Havre now prepares for a familiar foe.

“I think it helps us having to play them (Rams) instead of Polson,” Leeds said. “Polson is huge across the board, and I didn’t think we matched up well with them at all. I feel like Billings Central is a much better matchup for us. At the same time, they are a very athletic, very disciplined team, and because we just played them last week, they’re going to know what to do guarding Dane and Jerod. They’re going to guard those guys heavy this time around.”

Havre beat the Rams by double-digits in last weekend’s Eastern A semifinals, with Warp leading the way. Now, the two teams, with two of the brightest stars in the tournament, Warp and BC’s Jacob Hadley, will go head-to-head for a berth in Saturday night’s state championship game. But, Leeds feels that despite each team having a bona fide super star, tonight’s game will come down to others stepping up and making plays.

“Jacob Hadley is a special player,” Leeds said. “I’m pretty sure he was just like Dane today, in that he scored half of their points in their game. So this game is really about the role players. They’re going to try and stop Dane and we’re going to try and stop Hadley, and it will really come down to whoever’s role players step up and make plays. And that’s what we’re going to need. We’re going to need guys like Nate Korb, Ivar Aageson and Jacob LaBrie to step up and make plays for us in this game.

“We feel good about our chances,” he added. “Because we did play pretty well against them just last week. But we’re not taking them for granted either. We know we’re going to have to play a very good game on both ends of the floor to advance.”

Tonight’s Class A semifinal between the Ponies (17-5) and Rams (14-8) will tip at 6:30 in Missoula. The winner will face either Dillon (20-2) or Hardin (14-8) in Saturday night’s state championship game.

Havre 58, Hamilton 49

Hamilton14 9 16 10 – 49

Havre4 15 21 18 – 58

Hamilton (12-11) – Bret Huxtable 1-2 0-0 2, Hunter Omlid 2-5 4-6 4, Carter Kearns 6-12 0-0 14, Josh Heath 3-8 3-4 10, Ky Burch 2-6 0-0 5, Bridger Bauder 0-3 2-2 2, Jaylen Taggart 4-4 0-1 8. Totals: 18-40 9-13 49.

Havre (17-5) – Nate Rismon 2-8 2-2 6, Dane Warp 12-23 6-12 33, Zachary Hunt 1-2 0-0 2, Jerod Boles 5-12 3-4 17, Ivar Aageson 0-1 0-0 0, Michael Loftus 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 20-47 11-18 58.

3-point goals – Hamilton 4-17 (Kearns 2-7, Burch 1-3, Heath 1-5), Havre 7-21 (Boles 4-9, Warp 3-8). Rebounds – Hamilton 24 (Omlid 7), Havre 30 (Warp 9). Assists – Hamilton 12 (Omlid 5), Havre 13 (Aageson 4). Steals – Hamilton 5 (Kearns 2, Bauder 2), Havre 7 (Warp 4). Blocks – Hamilton 1 (Huxtable), Havre 0. Turnovers – Hamilton 13, Havre 10. Total fouls – Hamilton 21, Havre 13. Fouled out – none. Technicals – Warp.