Eagles can't soar against powerful Ponies

The Havre High girls basketball team has high standards for itself. And despite beating Fairfield by 15 points Friday night, the Blue Ponies weren't satisfied with their performance. And they took it out on Lewistown.

After beating Fairfield on the road Friday night, 57-42, the Ponies returned to the HHS gymnasium Saturday night ready to make a point. And against their Central A rivals, they made quite the statement, using a 27-0 first quarter run to beat Lewistown 75-20.

"(Saturday morning) when we got together, we talked about how our level of play and how our enthusiasm (in Fairfield) wasn't what it should be," HHS head coach Dustin Kraske said. "And geez, we just came out and did a great job. Every kid, was ready to go. It was awesome."

Using a man-to-man full-court press to open the game, the Ponies tormented the Eagles, who turned the ball over repeatedly in the opening stanza. At the same time, Havre got hot from the three-point range. Marca Herron used a couple of steals to score five points, getting a three-point play and a layup. Then Ryen Olson hit twice from beyond the arc. Freshman Kylie Walker also hit from deep and senior Danielle Wallace scored to beat the buzzer, giving HHS a 27-0 lead.

"What I liked about it (press)," Kraske said, "was that it wasn't anything fancy. It was just 'I am going to guard my guy' and I really, really was impressed with our kids in that. They played with a very high level of enthusiasm."

In the second quarter, Kyndall Keller hit twice from deep. Then, Kaylee Nystrom knocked down a trey which made it 40-8. By halftime the Ponies led 52-10. In the second half, the clock was running the entire time, yet HHS still outscored the Eagles 23-11.

Keller put forth a dominant performance. She outscored the Eagles by herself, as she finished with a game-high 29 points. She was the only Pony who scored in double figures, but Nystrom and Kyley Verploegen also pitched in with eight points, as did Walker. Olson and Wallace both finished with six and Herron had five.

"Yeah, all of those guys just kind of shot the lights out," Kraske said. "But it gets that way sometimes when you make some layups, then all of a sudden, it's not that the floodgates open, but the rim gets much bigger."

Friday night in Fairfield, the Ponies didn't find scoring the basketball so easy. Havre did jump out to an 11-5 lead at the end of the first quarter and outscored the Eagles 20-12 in the second to take a 31-17 lead at the intermission. But Fairfield continued to hang around. The Eagles trimmed the lead down to 11, going into the fourth quarter, but they couldn't get much closer and lost by 15.

Keller had another stellar night for the Ponies and led all scorers with 20 points. The sophomore is now averaging 20.3 ppg this season. Wallace also had another solid night with 10 and Herron, a fellow senior, matched her with 10 points of her own. Kaitlyn James led Fairfield with 12 and Kenna Pitcher had 10.

"We won the game, but I thought we could have played a lot harder," Kraske said. "And that's what I was asking of them (Saturday) against Lewistown."

Havre (8-0) will host Rocky Boy Thursday night at 7, before hitting the road Saturday to take on long-time rival Browning, in what is now a non-conference game.

Havre 57, Fairfield 42

Havre 11 20 12 14 - 57

Fairfield 5 12 15 10 - 42

Havre: Kyndall Keller 20, Kaylee Nystrom 6, Kadia Miller 2, Marca Herron 10, Danielle Wallace 10, Loy Waid 2, Kyley Verlploegen 7

Fairfield: Alexis McWilliams 4, Naemi Wiot 9, Emily Clotfeller 7, Kenna Pitcher 10, Kaityln James 12

Havre 75, Lewistown 21

Lewistown 0 10 8 3 - 21

Havre 27 25 16 7 - 75

Lewistown: G. Butcher 5, H. Hays 2, H. Potter 5, M. Mangold 3, K. Nelson 2, Z Zimmer 4.

Havre: Ryen Olson 6, Kyndall Keller 29, Kylie Walker 8, Kaylee Nystrom 8, Kadia Miller 3, Marca Herron 5, Katie Wirtzberger 2, Danielle Wallace 6, Kyley Verploegen 8.