THEY DID IT AGAIN

by Kason Clark

GREAT FALLS -  There's just something about the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls. Or maybe it's just the Havre High girls are that good.

Either way, Saturday night, the Blue Ponies captured their third state title in four years, and their fourth since 2014, all in Great Falls, as they beat Billings Central 64-61 in a double-overtime thriller.

  "I'm just so happy for our kids. They work their tail off, they grind it out and they grinded out another one tonight," said Havre head coach Dustin Kraske. "We got nice kids at our school. They believe in playing basketball and they believe in being coached and we're very fortunate."

  Winning state championships should be familiar to the Blue Ponies at this point as Havre has won three of the past four state championships. In 2020, the Ponies finished third in the state tournament. Kraske said the reason the Ponies have been a mainstay at state has been the players and the support from family. 

  "We got great kids," Kraske said. "We have very supportive parents and you put those two combinations together, you get a good program."

  The win came against a Billings Central team that had defeated the Ponies twice already this season. In the regular season, the Rams defeated Havre 48-43 Jan. 30. Havre then lost a 44-43 heartbreaker to Billings Central in the Eastern A Divisional championship game Feb. 27. 

  The game against Billings Central for the state title was a back-and-forth affair. Yelena Miller played a huge role in deciding the outcome as she led the team with 27 points. Miller was not just happy to win a state title, but that she got to do with her teammates. 

  "I love it, it's just so much fun," Miller said. "Especially with them, it's great. A whole season with them is just the best thing ever."

  Junior Sadie Filius could not believe that her team's hopes and dreams coming into the season had finally come true. 

  "I'm still a little shocked that it actually happened, what we had been talking about all year but I'm happy," Filius said. 

  Filius scored 18 points in the Ponies' comeback win. 

  The state championship also caps off the end of several seniors' careers: Kylie Walker, Loy Waid, Sydney Wilting, Kennedy Hampton, Quinn McDonald and Britton Paulson. 

  "We're going to miss them a lot," Kraske said. "They're all college-bound, they're all going to be great people. They're just wonderful."

  Walker and Waid were members of the three state championship teams over the past four years. 

  "It's really awesome being a part of this program because we just work really good together and the coaches are awesome," Waid said. 

  Waid chipped in 10 points in the championship to help the Ponies win.

  Walker was happy that her last time playing with team came with a state title.  

  "It feels great. We all worked so hard for this and we got to do it together," Walker said. 

  In the first two games of the state tournament to get to the championship game, Walker scored 11 points against each Hamilton and Columbia Falls.  

  As the Ponies move forward and try to continue their success, Kraske is just happy that the program he coaches is full of hard-working players. 

  "They're just so wonderful to be around all the time and they let us work and they want to work hard," Kraske said. "They want to get better and they don't get tired of doing simple stuff. They just don't get tired of it. We're lucky."