The streak for consecutive state tournament appearances lives on for Havre girls’ basketball. Despite not winning the Eastern ‘A’ Divisional, the Lady Ponies still made noise and will be a threat in the next tournament.
New Media Broadcasters asked head coach Tommy Brown about what he learned in his first Divisional as a head coach and how his team can overcome the struggles that they faced in the championship against Billings Central Catholic.
“First and foremost, the effort the kids gave in those games,” Brown said. “I thought they really did a nice job of executing our game plan, grinding out two solid wins to punch our ticket to the state tournament.”
“Overall, just the kids’ focus and their willingness to just work hard together, that was what I was most proud of,” Brown continued.
The Ponies (18-3) will be the No. 2 seed out of the east and knew their first-round matchup after the Western ‘A’ ended play. They’ll meet the Bigfork Valkyries (19-3) in the first round of action. Brown said that it didn’t matter who they play and said that they’ll keep the same process throughout the week simple would ensure results.
“We’ll keep building (and) keep taking steps,” Brown said. “Make corrects to get better.”
“Really, just add on to some of the things we have,” Brown continued. “Making a few adjustments to both sides of the ball, offensively and defensively.”
“Keep it simple,” Brown said. “Keep getting better one step at a time like we have all year and then give it our best shot against the best teams in the state.”
Havre’s journey in the MHSA State Class ‘A’ girls’ tournament will begin on Thursday as the first team on court at 9am, taking on Bigfork (19-3). A feed will be provided on KOJM-610AM, 98.3FM, and HiLineToday.com for every Lady Ponies game from the Billings Metra.
