Blue Ponies return to the hardwood tonight

Welcome to the 2020 portion of the Havre High boys and girls basketball season - a season that, after the holiday break, is here to stay.

The Blue Ponies return from their break to face the Great Falls High Bison, with the HHS girls hosting the Bison tonight in the HHS gymnasium, and the Pony boys traveling to Great Falls. Havre then visits Malta Saturday.

The two games against Great Falls and Malta are always great games for the Havre teams to go up against, since it tests how Havre fairs against competition outside of its class and conference. Both teams will be in for some big games, but the boys team and head coach Walynn Burgess will have a very tough weekend with the two road-games.

"Great Falls is a tough AA team that is coming in undefeated," Burgess said. "It's gonna be good for us to get back on the floor and play again. Malta is going to be another good team who returns a lot of talent from last years' team."

With the two close conference losses before the holiday break, the HHS boys team has been itching to pick up some wins to start the new decade off on a good note. The boys have shown a lot of potential so far, so the two games against Great Falls and Malta will be nice tests to help Havre to get even better.

Even if Havre sits with a 1-3 record as of now, the games it has lost were quite close. The Ponies have a lot of great talent. Junior Kellen Detrick has always been a consistent force on offense for Havre and a great player who can drive to the basket. Seniors Mason Rismon and Jake Huston have been having a great year so far, too, putting up good numbers against teams like Billings Central and Miles City, while point guard Josh Warp is playing at a high level as well. But, up against the undefeated Bison, Havre will face off against a versatile squad and Burgess knows the talent that resides in Great Falls.

"They got a couple of studs - in Wyman, he's a junior 6-4 wing/post; Torgeson is tough and very savvy," Burgess said, adding that these players "will give anyone fits."

The Bison have beaten tough teams like Butte, Big Sky and Flathead to boost their reputation as a strong team among Class AA. There is no shortage of talent and skill among the Great Falls boys and Havre will be in for a great game against the Bison on the road.

Meanwhile, the Havre girls will be playing Great Fall at home in front of the Havre crowd. In the last two seasons, Havre hasn't lost to the Bison in the long-standing series, which is now just one game per season. Now though, GFH has tough players like seniors Gracie Linz and Jorgie Hawthorne who will aim to take down the Ponies. Currently, the Bison girls sit undefeated with wins against Glacier, Flathead, Butte and Big Sky.

The Havre girls, though, will look to down the Bison with players like seniors Kyndall Keller and Kadia Miller at the helm, while teammates like Loy Waid, Katie Wirtzberger, Kylie Walker and Sadie Filius are also big-time contributors.

After the games against the Bison tonight, both Havre teams will face Malta on the road Saturday, and again, Burgess expects tough games.

"Tanner Smith is a big athlete who loves to get up and down the floor," Burgess said. "Kooper Oxarart is a shooting guard who can light it up from anywhere."

The Blue Pony teams will be facing similar situations in Malta, with both the Mustangs and the M-Ettes being 2-2 on the season, with losses to Harlem and Bigfork. Malta will aspire to put up big games against the Class A rival.

For Burgess, the two games against the Bison and the Mustangs will be great for his team.

"Both are great opportunities for us to get back out on the court and to keep progressing every day," Burgess said.

The Havre girls will tip off tonight at 7 against the Bison inside the HHS gymnasium, while the Pony boys play GFH at the Swarthout Fieldhouse tonight at 7 in Great Falls. Both Pony teams visit Malta Saturday afternoon.