Billings Central runs past the Blue Ponies

The Havre High boys basketball team was on the road this past Saturday with a game against Billings Central. The Blue Ponies played well in the first half to keep pace with the Rams. But in the second half, the Rams pulled away to defeat the Ponies 58-49.

"Basketball's a game of runs and I felt like they had a few more runs that we did," HHS head coach Walynn Burgess said. "It was a real hard-fought game, back and forth, and we knew they were going to give us their best shot."

Despite the loss, there were some bright spots for the Ponies in the game. Shane Patacsil played well as he led the team with 18 points in the contest. Tre Gary also made an impact with 13 points in the losing effort.

Crawford Terry got the game started with a layup to give the Ponies an early lead. After the Rams responded with a 3-pointer, Gary knocked down a free throw to tie the game. After the Rams made another three, the Ponies went on a 10-0 run to take control. Along with Gary's four points during the run, Patacsil knocked down a pair of threes to help Havre take a 13-6 lead.

The Rams worked their way back as they cut Havre's lead to 16-14. Over the last minute of the quarter, Reid Kato made a layup and Patacsil knocked down another three to give the Ponies a 21-14 lead heading into the break. In the opening frame, Burgess believes the Ponies were sharing the ball well.

"There was a lot of movement of the ball offensively," Burgess said. "We came out with a lot of good energy too."

But after a strong start to the game, the Havre offense slowed down. This allowed the Rams to claw their way back and eventually take a 29-27 lead late in the half. After Jevin Jenkins knocked down some free throws to tie the game, the Rams made a bucket in the closing moments to take a 31-29 lead into the halftime break.

Xavier Butler started the second half with a score to tie the game again. After another Billings Central 3-pointer, Gary made a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to 34-33 early in the third quarter. But that was when the Rams took firm control as they went on a 10-0 run to stretch their lead to 44-33.

"We went real stagnant, the ball wasn't moving as much as it had and it kind of threw us for a loop when they were in their zone," Burgess said about the start to the third quarter.

Patacsil finally put an end to the run with a jumper, but it was not enough as the Rams kept playing well to take a 49-37 lead into the fourth quarter. Through most of the fourth quarter, the Ponies were unable to make much headway on the scoreboard.

The Ponies were eventually able to cut their deficit to single digits, but time ran out on them. The Rams milked the clock to close out the victory and drop the Ponies to 1-1 on the season. While it was a tough loss, the young Ponies will have plenty to learn from this game as they move forward.

"Our energy's just got to stay there for a full game. When you're playing against a really good team, you can't really have too many bad runs," Burgess said.

The HHS boys basketball team will look to rebound when it heads on the road to play Glendive this Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Billings Central 58, Havre 49

HAV - 21 8 8 12 - 49

BC - 14 17 18 9 - 58

HAV - Shane Patascil 18, Tre Gary 13, Xavier Butler 8, Jevin Jenkins 5, Crawford Terry 3, Reid Kato 2.