Stars shine bright in Havre

After two losses to start the second half of the season, the Havre High boys basketball team was looking for some positive momentum Thursday night against Rocky Boy. But, after a 13-point loss to the Stars, the Blue Ponies are still stuck in a rut.

Havre did make things competitive with the Stars, but it wasn't enough as Rocky Boy (7-1), led by a dominating performance from Kendall Windy Boy, defeated the Ponies 58-45 inside the HHS gymnasium. Havre is now 2-7 on the season. It will host Browning tonight at 7.

"I thought we got some good looks and I thought we moved the ball a lot better," HHS head coach Curt Leeds said. "We didn't have as many turnovers. We played better, we played more together. Zone (defense) has killed us all year and they zoned us the whole game and we played better than we have against any other zone team."

Rocky Boy, the No. 5 team in Class B, started the scoring early as Ben Iron Eyes banged home a 3-pointer that sparked an 8-2 run to open the game. Trey Murphy answered with a triple for the Ponies, but a 7-2 spurt from Rocky Boy gave it a 15-7 lead after one.

In the second quarter, the Stars continued to excel on the defensive end, holding Havre to just eight points. Not only did Rocky Boy's defense keep the Ponies from scoring, but it also led to some easy buckets in transition. Offensive rebounds, mostly coming from Windy Boy, also helped Rocky Boy grab control of the game. And after Windy Boy banked home a 3-pointer from half court just as the first half buzzer sounded, the Stars led 32-15.

"I thought that we played well, but we could have played better," Rocky Boy head coach Adam Demontiney said. "It was our defense. That has carried us through a lot of games this season and it came through for us again tonight."

The Rocky Boy lead got to 19 after Kordell Small scored two off a spin move in the third quarter, but six straight points from Jacob Irvin got the Ponies back within striking distance. Later a hoop by Ivar Aageson and a trey from Tanner Parsons had Havre down 39-26 late in the third quarter. Trey Murphy found Irvin for another score in short order, trimming the lead to 11, but five straight points to close the third pushed it back to 46-30.

Buckets from Iron Eyes and Windy Boy turned a 5-0 spurt, into an 11-0 run and by the time Parsons intervened with a three, the Ponies were down 52-35. Havre whittled the margin down to 11 again with just a few minutes to go, but the Ponies never got within single digits again and the Stars held on to win by 13.

"It's always tough to come to Havre and get a win," Demontiney said. "I know they are struggling right now, but it's still tough to win here. I have only done it a couple times in my four years coaching, so it was a good win for us."

Iron Eyes led Rocky Boy in the win, scoring a game-high 17 points. Windy Boy added 13 points and 10 plus rebounds for a double-double, while Small also pitched in with 12. The win was the seventh straight for the Stars. Their only loss was their season opener against defending Class C state champion Arlee.

"Kendall is a handful and that's what everyone focuses on, even in our conference," Demontiney said. "They are all worried about the big guy. Then you have Ben Iron Eyes and Kordell Small and some nice role players.

On the other side, Havre had three players reach double figures, led by Parsons, who connected from downtown three times en route to a team-high 11 points. Irvin finished with 10, with eight coming in the third quarter. Murphy used two 3-point makes to end up with 10.

"Jacob was coming off being sick, he wasn't at practice Monday or Tuesday," Leeds said. "We had some others that were sick as well, but they gave us all the minutes that they could. We didn't have Tyen Sangrey and we could have used his size. It's tough for us against a 6-7 guy and the thing is that his teammates know he has the size advantage and they look for him. He is really tough to keep off the boards, but he also has a nice touch inside."

The Ponies, who have now lost four straight games, will look to get back into the win column tonight against Browning. Tip-off inside the HHS gymnasium is scheduled for 7.

Rocky Boy 58, Havre 45

Rocky Boy 15 17 14 12 - 58

Havre 7 8 15 15 - 45

Rocky Boy - Kordell Small 12, Ben Iron Eyes 18, Frankie Bacon 7, Olin Arkinson 6, Cedric Belcourt 2, Kendall Windy Boy 13.

Havre - Laz Windy Boy 4, Tanner Parsons 11, Jacob Irvin 8, Tommy Brown 2, Ivar Aageson 4, Trey Murphy 10, Austin Jones 2, Kellen Detrich 2.