Ponies complete thrilling comeback win in OT at CMR

Sometimes, it's not how you start, but how you finish. And while the Havre High girls basketball team got off to a terrible start in Great Falls, the Blue Ponies sure did finish.

Thursday night in the CMR Fieldhouse, the Pony girls mounted a huge comeback, beating the Class AA Rustlers 45-39, for what was their 10th straight win.

Havre overcame as much as a 15-point deficit, and a rough shooting first half, by outscoring the Rustlers 18-4 in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 33-33 at the end of regulation. Havre got there by tying the game with just 5 seconds left, then holding off the last CMR shot. In overtime, things were still close, with Havre leading 39-37 with just :45 left, but the Ponies ended up putting the game away for a huge win.

That win, however, didn't come easy. Havre scored just three second-quarter points and trailed the Rustlers 20-10 at halftime. Things didn't get much better in the third as Havre scored just five points and were still trailing 29-15 with eight minutes to go, before mounting a huge comeback.

Kyndall Keller paced the Ponies with a game-high 21 points, while Sadie Filius added nine points and Kylie Walker scored 6.

Thursday night's victory moved HHS to 12-1 on the season ahead of Saturday night's home game against the Malta M-Ettes. Havre already has a win over Malta this season. The Ponies and M-Ettes will meet at 5:30 p.m. Saturday in the HHS gymnasium.

Havre 45, CMR 39, OT

Havre 7 3 5 18 12 - 45

CMR 11 9 9 4 6 - 39

Havre - Sam Oliver 1, Kyndall Keller 21, Kylie Walker 6, Loy Waid 2, Kadia Miller 3, Jessa Chvilicek 3, Sadie Filius 9.

CMR - Lauren Lindseth 9, Chloe Pace 2, Emily Fanseth 2, Allie Olson 15, Alex Madsen 3, Natalie Bosley 1, Kiely Gunderson 7.