This team, this moment, again

When the Havre High girls basketball team takes the floor in the Class A state tournament Thursday, the Blue Ponies will be walking into a familiar place in the Four Seasons Arena.

It's a place where Havre has had a lot of success, winning the last two state tournaments held in Great Falls there, with championships in 2014 and last season after HHS was able to beat Hardin in the state title game.

Now, the Ponies are scheduled to be back in the Four Seasons, which will host the first ever combined Class A state tournament, and the defending state champions can't wait to get on the floor where they have created some fond memories.

"We love Great Falls," Havre junior Kadia Miller said. "We love the horse barn. We love the floor, the floor is close and it gets really loud. Last year, it felt like the whole town of Havre was there, so we are really excited. We have been looking forward to state all season."

Havre will get its title defense underway Thursday morning in Great Falls when the Ponies will take on the third-place team out of the Western A in Libby. The Ponies (20-1) are coming in as the No. 2 seed out of the Eastern A following their loss to Billings Central in the divisional championship game.

"Libby is a very good team," HHS head coach Dustin Kraske said. "Coach Winslow does a very good job over there and his daughter (Jayden Winslow) is a fine player. They also have some good role players around her, and we will have our hands full. The key is going to be making the simple look good. We need to rebound, play well defensively, push the tempo and share the ball."

As Kraske referenced, Jayden Winslow is the top player when it comes to Libby, and she leads the Loggers with 14.9 points per game. Alli Collins and McKenzie Profitt are two others who play prominent roles for a team that was 11-7 during the regular season in the Northwest A.

Havre counters with two-time All-State performer Kyndall Keller, who also led Class A in scoring with 17.1 points per game during the regular season. Keller, who was a key part last season's team, said her team was looking forward to the challenge of a difficult tournament.

"I don't think it feels much different than last year," Keller said. "Just because we are going to state, and it's such a big deal, and there are so many good teams. We are excited to play them and see how it goes."

And while the Ponies weren't inexperienced going into last year's state tournament, with Keller, Miller, Kylie Walker, Katie Wirtzberger and Kassidy Compton, among others, all getting valuable experience at last year's tournament, Havre will be familiar with the big-game atmosphere.

"It will help a lot," Keller said of her team's experience. "We have some girls who have gone to state that were on the team last year and I think it will help a lot. Even walking in there, it's a huge stage and it's just good to get a feel for it."

Jessa Chvilicek is one player who saw action at the state tournament a season ago, but mostly at the end when games were out of hand. This season, though, the junior has developed into a key player off the bench for the Ponies, and during the regular season, she led Class A in 3-point shooting percentage (43.5). She also averaged two steals and nearly one block per game, and she stands to make a much bigger impact in her second trip to the state tournament.

"I am really excited," Chvilicek said. "I know what my role is and I know what I have to do to get us where we want to be."

Where the Ponies ultimately want to be is playing for a second-straight state championship Saturday night. However, if they are going to get there, they will need to rebound quickly from their loss to Billings Central in the Eastern A championship game, which was their first loss since the loser-out round of the 2017 Class A state tournament. The loss also snapped the Ponies school-record 44-game winning streak.

"Having a win streak is pretty cool but you win some and you lose some," Keller said. "It wasn't our best game (Billings Central). But we are coming back ready for state, and that's our big goal."

While no team ever wants to lose, in the case of the rest of Class A, it's likely that no one is looking forward to playing Havre right after a loss.

"Losing sucks," Keller said. "No one wants to lose so you come back more fired up and ready to go. I think that it will motivate us."

Miller agreed.

"It gives us more motivation," Miller said. "It's making us work harder and focus on the things we didn't do well and start doing those things better."

Miller also indicated that the Ponies wouldn't mind getting another chance at Billings Central if the two teams were to meet for the state championship Saturday night.

"It would definitely be fun," Miller said. "But whatever happens, we need to take it one game at a time."

As much as the 2018-19 Ponies are different from the team that went 24-0 and won a state championship a season ago, there is no escaping the fact that Havre is going for back-to-back championships, something no Havre basketball team, girls or boys, has ever done.

"I haven't thought about it," Kraske said. "This team is the focus and what they can accomplish together."

What the Ponies can do this week with three wins at the state tournament is make history, becoming the first Havre High basketball team to successfully defend a state championship while also carving out their own legacy as one of the greatest Pony teams of all time.

"It would be pretty sweet," Keller said of another state title. 'It will just show how much hard work we have put in. It will reflect that and winning state is so much fun, it's a crazy feeling, you can't describe it."

The Ponies will be chasing that feeling this week in Great Falls at the Four Seasons and their journey to a second straight championship starts Thursday morning against Libby, with tip-off time set for 10:30 a.m.