Tourney Time: Defending champion Ponies hoping to play their way into the Eastern A

After a forgettable regular season, the Havre High boys basketball team still needs one win to get a chance at defending its Eastern A Divisional championship.

And after finishing 2-6 in the Central A conference, (3-15 overall), the Ponies will need to beat Miles City Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. in a play-in game for the Eastern A divisional tournament. Glendive will also play Livingston in the other play-in game Wednesday inside the Rimrock Auto Arena at the Metra in Billings.

If Havre beats the Cowboys, Havre would earn its way into the nine-team tournament and would play either Glendive or Livingston Thursday at 12 p.m.

“They have four wins on the season,” HHS head coach Curt Leeds said of Miles City (4-14). “They have two really good guards and they have a nice post player, too, and they play good defense, so we are going to have to be ready to go.”

While the Cowboys come in with just four wins, they average 55.1 points per game thanks to a dynamic backcourt duo. Tyler Burk averages 16.4 points per game for Miles City. But he’s not even the Cowboys’ leading scorer. That title belongs to Gabe Gundlach, who averages 17.4 points a night.

Miles City scores 55 a game, but also gives up just more than 61. Havre averages 44.8 on offense and gives up 56 on defense.

“We are going to have to get ready for some man-to-man,” Leeds said. “A lot of teams from the East play man to man.”

Havre has struggled to score all season long, but has fared better against zone versus man. Yet with the return of Jacob LaBrie (8.1 PPG) to go along with leading-scorer Nate Korb (9.9 PPG) and Isaac Warp (9.5 PPG), the Ponies have some firepower. Ivar Aageson and Ryan Bakke are two other key contributors for HHS.

“I think that we need to communicate and work with each other,” Leeds said. “We need to learn to slow the game down when we need to.”

If Havre beats Miles City, it will be guaranteed to at least two more games. A loss, however, will end the Ponies season.

However, if Havre is able to beat Miles City and either Livingston or Glendive, it would advance to the quarterfinals to take on Laurel, the top-seeded team from the East. The Locomotives, Hardin and Billings Central all had identical 7-3 records, but Laurel got the top seed based off a tiebreaker. Laurel is paced by Christian Jones, who averaged 13.5 points a game this season. The locomotives and whoever their opponent turns out to be will play Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

The other quarterfinal matchups on that side of the bracket takes place Thursday at 1:30 p.m., when Billings Central, the third-seeded team from the East, will take on Browning, the No. 2 seed from the Central. The Rams, the Class A runner-up a season ago, come in 12-6, while the Indians are 9-8 overall and 4-4 in the Central A after beating Havre last Saturday. Billings Central has two solid scorers in Shay Dantic (13.11 ppg) and Chrishon Dixon (12.06 PPG), but Browning will answer with Justin Calf Boss Ribs (8.67 PPG), Brandon Aimsback (11.4 PPG) and Tyree Whitcomb (9.8 PPG).

The quarterfinals start Wednesday night, as Hardin, the No. 2 from the East, takes on third-seeded Lewistown from the Central A. Hardin (13-5, 7-3) boasts Darnell Lefthand, Class A’s leading scorer and possibly the most dynamic player at the tournament. He is averaging 19.89 points a night. His teammate, Virgil McCormick averages 14.44, along with David Evans, who averages 12.5 and Famous Lefthand, who scores 11.72. Lewistown (11-7, 4-4) will counter with Tanner Trafton (13.2 PPG) and Jaden Graham (15.2 PPG).

The other quarterfinal game features Belgrade (14-4, 7-1), the top-seed from the Central A and Sidney (13-5, 5-5), the No. 4 from the East. The Panthers boast Dawson Fowler, who has a scoring average of 17.5 a game, as well as Brock Salsbury, who scores 14.1 a game and Trey Layman, who averages 11.1. Brett Norby (15.8 PPG) and Bridger Larson (10.3 PPG) are the Eagles top players.

The four quarterfinal winners will play Friday night in the semifinals at 6:30 and 8. The championship game will take place Saturday at 8 p.m. The Saturday morning consolation games that will also determine the other two teams that quality for the Class A state tournament are set for 10:30 a.m. One game will be in the Metra, with the other to be played at Rocky Mountain College. The top four teams from the Eastern A, as well as the top four teams from the Western A, which is being played this week in Hamilton, will advance to the state tournament March 9-11 in Butte.

Eastern A

At Rimrock Auto Arena, Billings

(4 teams advance)

Wednesday

Game 1: Livingston vs. Glendive, noon

Game 2: Miles City vs. Havre, 1:30 p.m.

Game 3: Hardin vs. Lewistown, 6:30 p.m.

Game 4: Belgrade vs. Sidney, 8 p.m.

Thursday

Game 5: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, noon

Game 6: Browning vs. Billings Central, 1:30 p.m.

Game 7: Laurel vs. Game 5 winner, 6:30 p.m.

Game 8: Game 3 loser vs. Game 5 loser, 8 p.m.

Friday

Game 9: Game 4 loser vs. Game 5 loser, noon

Game 10: Game 3 loser vs. Game 6 winner, 1:30 p.m.

Game 11: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 6:30 p.m.

Game 12: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 8 p.m.

Saturday

Game 13: Game 7 winner vs. Game 9 loser, 10:30 a.m.

Game 14: Game 10 winner vs. Game 12 loser, 10:30 a.m. (Rocky Mountain College)

Game 15: Game 13 winner vs. Game 14 winner, 4:30 p.m., third place

Game 16: Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner, 8 p.m., championship.