Chris Peterson Column: Goodbye fall, hello winter

I don’t know about the rest of you, but it’s crazy to me that it’s November. Actually, it's more than halfway through the month and soon enough it will be 2019.

Yes, as crazy as it sounds, another year is almost in the books and in terms of local sports, fall is over and winter is well on the way. The Lights and Skylights have both been playing basketball games. Northern wrestling is also on the mats already and high school sports won’t be far behind.

So, during the slight break between the two seasons, I am going to take a look back at this fall, as well as look ahead to what’s in store for basketball, wrestling and everything else.

If I am being honest, I love basketball. It’s called the beautiful game for a reason and Havre basketball fans, as well as fans from around the Hi-Line, have plenty to look forward to. Of course, the Blue Pony girls are going to be a story to watch. Havre was perfect a season ago and won the Class A state championship.

Whether the Ponies can repeat either of those feats will be fascinating to watch. It will also be interesting to see if head coach Dustin Kraske can lead the Ponies to a second straight state championship, becoming the first Havre basketball coach to ever win back-to-back state championships in the process.

While the Ponies are going for back-to-back titles, they aren’t the only local team doing so. The Box Elder girls also won the Class C state championship and return two of their key players, Lily Gopher and Joelnell Momberg. Havre also returns some of its stars such as Kyndall Keller and Kadia Miller, meaning both teams should have a good shot at repeating.

Another thing I am looking forward to is the debut of new Havre High boys basketball coach Walynn Burgess, who took over the helm at Havre High after coaching North Star to the Northern C Divisional tournament last season. It will be fun to see Burgess coaching the Ponies but the 9C is also going to miss him, however, his old assistant Cody Donoven is taking over the helm. Donoven will lead the Knights, who along with the rest of the District 9C, will be chasing the Chinook Sugarbeeters, who went undefeated in the 9C last season and swept through the regular season and tournament titles.

It’s been fun to watch Isaac Bell and Cord Schneider over the years and under the direction of head coach Mike Seymour again, the Beeters seem like a legitimate state title contender.

Speaking of Chinook, one of the things I enjoyed the most this fall was getting back to Hoon Field for a game between Chinook and Chester-Joplin-Inverness. The Hawks and Beeters duked it out for a playoff spot on a Saturday night and that was one of my favorite moments of the season. The win-or-go-home battle reminded of the Hi-Line Bowl of 2015 when Chinook and CJI were both undefeated. This game wasn’t as high stakes, but it was more competitive and the Beeters won on a late touchdown run. Chinook lost in the playoffs the next week, but still, getting back was an accomplishment all itself.

Speaking of great venues, I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about Blue Pony Stadium. One of the joys of my job is spending a few Friday nights every year covering games inside Blue Pony Stadium. I grew up watching games there; I played there and to me, there is no better place to be on a Friday night than watching the Ponies.

It’s a special atmosphere and a big part of that is the fans of Havre. In fact, one of my favorite things about covering sports in this area are the fans across the Hi-Line — fans from Havre, Chinook, Chester, Box Elder, wherever. Sports matter around here because they matter to you and when it comes to local sports, that will always be one of my favorite things.