Friday’s action at the Eastern ‘A’ Divisional basketball tournament in Billings saw some nail biters if you were a fan of the Havre Blue Ponies. The Blue Pony boys survived Hardin, (68-66), while the girls avenged a previous loss to Lockwood, winning (40-26).
Havre’s boys’ contest with the Bulldogs was a game of runs. After the Ponies scored 25 points in the first quarter, they were held to just 10 in the final eight minutes of the half. Hardin went on a double-digit run to take the lead, but Tre Gary willed his team back in it as Havre took a two-point lead into the final frame.
Back and forth the teams went in the final quarter before it was tied at 66 with three seconds left. Hardin possessed the ball, but Dax Ostwalt took it away and laid it in as the buzzer sounded to give the Ponies the win. Ostwalt had 18 points for the contest and Gary finished with a game-high 30, 20 of which came in the second half.
The Havre girls allowed the Lions to score the first 13 points of the game. The Lady Ponies didn’t score until less than a minute to go in the first quarter, but were able to get it back to single digits at the end of one, (13-4). They also got Lockwood superstar Tailey Harris in foul trouble and went on to score the next nine points. The Lions scored just two points in the second, but still took the lead into halftime, (15-14).
After a slow start to the third, Havre took its first lead at (16-15). Lockwood put in a charge in the middle of the frame, but the Lady Ponies retook the lead into the fourth quarter, (23-19). From there, it was all Havre on the way to the convincing comeback, outscoring Lockwood in the final eight minutes, (17-7). Ariana Gary had a monster time for Havre as she scored a game-high 14 points.
Havre’s boys will be in another loser-out contest starting around 10:30am on Saturday against East Helena. After qualifying for the state tournament, Havre’s girls’ play in the championship game on Saturday at 5pm and will try to knock off undefeated Billings Central Catholic. Both games will air on KOJM-610AM, 98.3FM, and HiLineToday.com.
