Havre girls take care of business in state title game

On Saturday at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman, the Havre High girl’s basketball team faced Hardin for the Class A State championship. While it was not easy at first, the Blue Ponies eventually got on a roll to defeat Hardin, 74-57, for their third straight state championship.

The Bulldogs struck first to start the contest. After a 2-2 tie to start the night, Sierra Takes Enemy made a layup and one free throw to give Hardin the lead. After Yelena Miller knocked down some free throws for the Ponies, Aiyanna Big Man made a layup and then a 3-pointer to keep things rolling for the Bulldogs. Takes Enemy then knocked down her jump shot to give Hardin a 12-4 lead halfway through the first.

“They had us a little confused. They were doing a nice job defensively changing things up on us,” HHS head coach Dustin Kraske said about the start to the game. “Of course, they scored on their first six or seven shots so naturally, the score gets funny when they score on every trip.”

The Ponies eventually got rolling themselves. Ariana Gary started the run with a pair of free throws. After Carlei Plainfeather scored for Hardin, Gary scored again to keep pace. But Katerena Morrison responded with a pair of free throws to give Hardin a 16-7 lead late in the quarter.

After another Gary bucket, a Hardin free throw made it a 17-9 game. That’s when the Ponies got rolling as they went on an 8-0 run to end the quarter. Amaya Jarvis got hot with a pair of threes, including one that tied the game, 17-17, heading to the second.

Takes Enemy made a layup and one free throw to give Hardin the lead to start the second. After Jarvis knocked down free throws for the Ponies, Morrison made a three to give Hardin a 23-19 lead early in the second.

The Ponies retook momentum as Avery Carlson took over the game with a personal 10-0 run. Thanks to her efforts, the Ponies pulled ahead to take a 29-23 lead late in the half. While Carlson put the ball in the basket during this stretch, she credited her teammates for putting her in position to do so.

“I have teammates that share the ball and they found me and I just did my job,” Carlson said.

Morrison tried to keep pace with a three, but Havre responded with a 7-0 run to push their lead out to 36-26. The Bulldogs knocked down some free throws late in the half, but the Ponies took a 36-29 lead into halftime.

Looking to pull away, the Ponies started the third quarter on a 6-0 run to stretch the lead to 42-29. Miller got rolling with a pair of baskets to start the half. But the Bulldogs were able to claw their way back to cut the deficit to 46-36 halfway through the third.

The Ponies and Bulldogs continued to exchange scores through the rest of the third. Every time Hardin scored, Havre scored to maintain its lead. Heading to the fourth, the Ponies had a 51-41 lead.

The Bulldogs were able to inch their way closer thanks to a pair of threes from Takes Enemy early in the fourth. A bucket from Alexis Morrison then cut Havre’s lead to 57-51. But back-to-back threes from Jarvis and Sierra Parker pushed the lead back out to 63-51 halfway through the fourth.

Diamond Amyotte knocked down some free throws to make it a ten-point game, but the Ponies responded with an 11-4 run to end the game and to secure their state championship. In their final games as Ponies, Miller scored 20 points while Carlson recorded 14 points. Jarvis had a strong finish to the year with 18 points for the Ponies. Takes Enemy led Hardin with 19 points and Katerena recorded 14 for the Bulldogs.

Not only did the Ponies take home another title with the win, but they ended the season on a 15-game winning streak. During that stretch, the Ponies played their best basketball of the year as they won by an average margin of victory of 19.3 points a game. As the season came down the stretch and the Ponies got healthier, Kraske believes their hard work paid off when it mattered most.

“We just took advantage of getting better every day,” Kraske said. “They just did a nice job of being fundamentally good and to play really good, boring basketball.”

Havre 74, Hardin 57, 1st

HAV - 17 19 15 23 - 74

HAR - 17 12 12 16 - 57

HAV - Yelena Miller 20, Amaya Jarvis 18, Avery Carlson 14, Sierra Parker 12, Ariana Gary 9, Tierra Parker 1.

HAR - Sierra Takes Enemy 19, Katerena Morrison 14, Carlei Plainfeather 5, Dallyn Lopez 5, Aiyanna Big Man 5, Alexis Morrison 3, Diamond Amyotte 3.