The Havre boys basketball team (8-3) will face Dawson County and Hardin back-to-back days at the Blue Pony Corral this weekend. Ponies coach WaLynn Burgess told New Media Broadcasters his main concern for Friday night’s game is the Red Devils’ size, but said what he’s been telling his team all week during practice about stopping their big men.
“Glendive will give a big challenge to us because they are a fairly bigger team,” Burgess said. “They’ve got (Chase Crockett who) has been a starter for three years now and was an (Eastern ‘A’) All-Conference kid last year as a junior.”
“We’ve got to make sure that we are matching energy, especially on the defensive end,” Burgess continued. “Keep them off the glass so that they don’t get an extra couple possession out of getting offensive rebounds.”
“And then do what we do, (which is getting) out and run and control the pace,” Burgess said.
Havre then turns their attention to Hardin, which pits a rematch against the Bulldogs team they blew out on Jan. 5, (96-59). Coach Burgess wanted to turn the page on that one and said that the team along with the festivities happening before the game will play into the challenge factor.
“Saturday comes around and yeah, we played Hardin January 5th early, but have they gotten better? Have we gotten better? Absolutely,” Burgess said. “I think both ways, both teams have gotten better. They’ve snuck out a couple wins here in the last couple weeks.”
“(Hardin is) shooting the ball really well and getting up and down a little bit,” Burgess continued. “They’re going to pose a challenge (and) with it being senior night (and) you always get the emotions of senior night.”
Havre plays Glendive on Friday night at 7:30pm followed by Hardin at 4pm with senior night festivities taking place before the game. All Havre games this week will be broadcast on KOJM-610AM and HiLineToday.com.
