The Havre Blue Pony basketball teams opened up the home slate of 2024-25 on Saturday night, hosting East Helena in doubleheader action. The girls’ came away with a (74-39) victory, while the boys’ staved off a late charge and took it, (68-54).
For the girls’ (2-1), it was the same recipe as last time against the Lady Vigilantes, forcing turnover after turnover, which led to transition buckets. The Pony defense was balanced, allowing 20 first-half points and 19 second-half points. Sierra Parker started the game off strong and despite foul trouble, still finished with a game-high 17 points. She was joined in double-digit scoring by Amaya Jarvis with 15 and Ariana Gary with 14.
The boys’ (2-1) were cruising, leading by 25 points at the half, but then East Helena came storming back, hitting five 3-pointers in the third quarter to cut the deficit to eight. Havre put the clamps down on defense and was able to pull away late with scoring from Dax Ostwalt, who had nine of his 16 points in the final eight minutes. Two more Blue Ponies also scored 16 points, seniors Matt Huse and Brayden Ereaux. Tre Gary finished with 13 points on the night.
Havre will resume its battles with Malta in cross-class showdowns on Tuesday at the Blue Pony Corral. Coverage begins around 6pm with Noah Friedman on the call for KOJM-610AM, 98.3FM, and HiLineToday.com.
