Blue Ponies ground all Eagles

The Havre High girls basketball team faced two difficult tests this past weekend. One at home against the Class B runner-up and another on the road against a conference rival.

But thanks to some outstanding defense and some timely scoring, the Blue Ponies won both games, knocking off Fairfield Friday night inside the HHS gymnasium, 48-44, followed by a 53-41 road win at Lewistown Saturday.

Outside of its one loss to Great Falls High, HHS hasn’t played a single close game this season. Yet, that changed Friday when Fairfield, a Class B power gave the Ponies all they could handle. In fact, the game came down to the closing seconds, when the Eagles, down three, had a chance to tie. Allix Goldhahn, a Montana State University-Northern commit, attempted a 3-pointer to even the score, but it fell short. Havre then got a free throw from Kyndall Keller with just seconds remaining to seal the four-point win.

The free throw was one of several key plays by Keller down the stretch. Just before hitting the shot at the line, the freshman grabbed a key offensive rebound and drew the foul. Earlier in the fourth quarter, Keller connected on a key shot that put Havre ahead 43-40.

However, four quick points from Natalie Klinker put the Eagles up 44-43 with just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter. Down one, the Ponies turned to Naomi Terry, who put Havre in front with two free throws. Then, following a missed layup by Klinker, Terry hit two more free throws to push the advantage to three points. From there, the Pony defense put the finishing touches on the win, holding Fairfield scoreless in the final 2:25.

“Klinker made a good move and we were fortunate that the layup didn’t go in,” HHS head coach Dustin Kraske said. “I guess (Danielle) Wallace, to her credit, made her shoot with her off hand. Dustin Gordon is good, they ran a good play and to Wallace’s credit, she secured the rebound.”

Both teams started slowly on offense and at the end of the first quarter, the Ponies held a 12-11 edge, thanks to a two from Terry at the buzzer. In the second, HHS got 3-pointers from Terry, Ceyara Plante and Keller, but the Eagles still managed to grab a 22-20 halftime lead.

But in the third quarter, Plante caught fire. She hit back-to-back treys early in the stanza, then hit two more to put Havre back ahead 34-31. Plante, who hit from three five times in the win, finished with 15.

“It was great for Ceyara to shoot the ball like that in a game,” Kraske said. “She shot the ball with a lot of confidence and she does that all the time in practice, but she doesn’t always shoot like that in the games, so I was really happy for her that she was able to do that.”

While Plante was hitting on all cylinders, Keller and Terry weren’t far behind. Both made two 3-pointers each as Havre finished with a total of nine. Keller matched Plante with 15 points; Terry finished with 12. Klinker led all scorers in the game with 20 for Fairfield. Goldhahn added 10.

“She is playing really well,” Kraske said of Keller. “Her confidence is really high right now. She played fantastic and that’s who she is. That’s what she does in practice all the time. She did a nice job.”

After knocking off Fairfield, the Ponies traveled to Lewistown, a place that has always proved difficult for Havre. And early on, the game between the two Central A rivals looked to be a dog fight. HHS led 13-6 after the first quarter, but the Eagles used an 11-6 second quarter to trim the Havre lead to 20-17.

However, in the third quarter, the Ponies took over, outscoring the Eagles 22-10. That put Havre up 42-27 entering the final eight minutes of play and HHS held on from there for the win. Terry had another stellar outing in the win for Havre, with a game-high 17 points. Keller pitched in with 11 and Marca Herron, connected on three triples for nine points.

“The kids played good,” Kraske said. “It was fun because it was a challenge for us there, especially in the first half but we played a great third quarter and we played good enough to win.”

With the weekend sweep, the Ponies are now 6-1 on the season and 3-0 in the Central A conference,.

Havre will host Browning Friday in its first Central A home game, before heading to Rocky Boy Saturday for a non-conference tilt with the Morning Stars.

Havre 48, Fairfield 44

Fairfield 11 11 14 8 – 44

Havre 12 8 19 9 – 48

Fairfield – Allix Goldhahn 10, Natalie Klinker 20, Kenna Pitcher 7, Logan Kolste 3, Kaitlyn Jones 4. Totals: 14 14-19.

Havre – Ceyara Plante 15, Kyndall Keller 15, Kaylee Nystrom 2, Naomi Terry 12, Danielle Wallace 4. Totals: 17 5-11.

Three point goals – Klinker 1, Pitcher 1, Plante 5, Keller 2, Terry 2. Total fouls – Fairfield 11, Havre 13.

Havre 53, Lewistown 41

Havre 13 7 22 11 – 53

Lewistown 6 11 10 14 – 41

Havre – Ceyara Plante 5, RayAn VandenBos 2, Kyndall Keller 11, Kaylee Nystrom 2, Naomi Terry 17, Marca Herron 9, Danielle Wallace 2, Kristen Nash 3, Kylee Verplogen 2. Totals: 18 10-15.

Lewistown – H. Hayes 7, H. Potter 13, R. Anderson 2, A. Ross 2, T. Choate 1, A. Zummer 16. Totals: 12 16-21.

Three point goals – Plante 1, Keller 1, Terry 2, Herron 3, Hayes 1. Total fouls – Havre 16, Lewistown 12.