The Havre boys’ basketball team split their games last weekend at the Blue Pony Corral, beating Miles City before falling to Billings Central Catholic. New Media Broadcasters spoke with Ponies coach WaLynn Burgess and he shared what he liked about his team’s effort last Friday night, particularly on the defensive end of the floor.
“They came out with the right frame of mind and had one goal in mind, which was to win a game,” Burgess said. “That was one of the better efforts on the defensive end. I was just proud of our boys with the way they came out and played.”
“(Senior guard) Shane (Patascil) shot (the basketball) really well,” Burgess continued. “(Having junior point guard) Tre (Gary) back on the court helps us get into our stuff. We had other contributions from guys stepping up. It was a real team effort on Friday night for sure.”
What coach Burgess wants the public to know is that the Billings Central game on Saturday was not the setback of what a normal loss would be like. He said it will certainly be a learning lesson for an even bigger goal.
“(Billings Central Catholic) is a really good squad that is going to be at the state tournament,” Burgess said. “For us to come out and compete the way we did (and) to be in the game, it was a two-possession game with a minute and a half left.”
“If you go and look at our numbers, our numbers weren’t what they were supposed to be,” Burgess said. “Shooting percentage, we had two many turnovers, too many brain farts on the defensive end to win a game like that.”
“We understand, ‘Hey, it’s a learning lesson. It is the end of January. We still have another eight games left to go before we step onto a divisional court,'” Burgess continued.
The Blue Ponies will host Glendive and Hardin back-to-back days this weekend and you can stay tuned for a preview story coming soon.
