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2014 CLASS A
March 2014
STATE GIRLS BASKETBALL CHAMPS
www.havredailynews.com
13
2014 CLASS A
March 2014
STATE GIRLS BASKETBALL CHAMPS
www.havredailynews.com
HHS's Lambourne will stay home for hoops Pony girls face Browning in a big finale Brandy Lambourne signs with MSUNorthern women's basketball team Daniel Horton
Havre Daily News sports writer gferguson@havredailynews.com The good news continues to pour out of the Montana State University-Northern women’s basketball program. And this time, the good news includes another local standout. Thursday, Skylights head coach Chris Mouat announced the signing of Havre High’s Brandy Lambourne. Lambourne is gearing up for her senior season with the Central A Blue Ponies and has already proven to be a talented player under the guidance of HHS head coach Dustin Kraske. In her junior season with the Blue Ponies, Lambourne was the only player in the Central A with more assists (46) than turnovers (43). Lambourne is a natural at the point guard position, where she’s led the Ponies in assists for two straight years. She also averaged 9.6 points per game last season, while leading the Ponies in field goal percentage, shooting better than a 50 percent clip. She shot 29 percent from 3-point range and 64 percent from the foul line. Lambourne has also been a key part of Havre High teams which have won back-toback Central A championships the last two seasons. She and several of her Havre High teammates also took a basketball trip to Australia in the summer of 2012. And Lambourne isn’t the only high school senior with the weight of a college signing off her shoulders, as the guard play of Lambourne will hopefully highlight the post play of players like Chinook senior Makhayla Farmer for the next several years at Northern. Farmer verbally committed to play for the Skylights as a sophomore. Now, Lambourne is the second player in what could be a huge 2013-14 recruiting class for Northern, and she is amped to continue her career in Havre. “I really just wanted to get a lot of this weight off of my back and focus on my last season of high school,” Lambourne said. “I go to all of their (Skylights) games and all of their camps. I also talk to their players and coaches, and just really like the program. I really like the atmosphere, and I already know a lot of the players.” But Lambourne wasn’t the only one excited about the signing. Mouat was just as excited to add local talent to an already impressive recruiting class. “We were really excited to sign Brandy,”
Havre Daily News/Daniel Horton Havre High senior Brandy Lambourne makes a move during the 2014 Class A state championship game between the Blue Ponies and Hamilton Broncs Saturday night at the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls. The Blue Ponies beat the Broncs 52-43 and captured Havre's first girls basketball state title in 17 years. Mouat said. “I think the job that coach Kraske is doing at Havre High is outstanding, and I think that Brandy is a big part of something special down there. They should be set for a great year, and getting to watch them this summer, I was able to see Brandy improve a lot. Their whole team stands out, but Brandy has really improved on both ends of the floor. She is leading by example, playing extremely hard and really stood out. She is familiar with our program, she wants to be a part of our program, and wants to play in front of friends and family, and that is really exciting.” And now, knowing where she is going to attend school and play ball for the next four years, Lambourne truly can focus on her final season as a Blue Pony. Havre High has made it a habit of making the Class A state tournament, but for a senior, that isn’t enough. Lambourne knows she is part of a great program and is part of a team that has the potential to make a run at a state title this upcoming season. “We are going to win as many games as we can,” Lambourne said, “and hopefully take state this year. We have been at state the last couple of years, so hopefully we can just seal the deal. I think we need to just treat the postseason like a regular game, not focus on the fact that it is the state tournament. We just need to play the way that we play normally.” “We have been able to watch her since she was a freshman and her game has improved a lot,” Mouat said. “But I see her entering her senior year with a team that has a chance to do some really special things at the state tournament level. I do think this signing will take some pressure off of her, and I see her having a great final season.” Lambourne will finish up a great career at Havre High where she is also an excellent student. During her athletic career, Lambourne is already a two-time Central A All-Conference basketball player. She has lettered three years in volleyball and three years in tennis including earning back-to-back trips to the Class A state tournament. Lambourne finished tied for seventh at the state tennis tournament this past spring in Polson. Lambourne plans to major in biology at Northern and has an interest in pursuing medical school in the future. She is the daughter of Tim and Maria, has two older sisters, Lissette, who lives in South Carolina, and Monica, who also attends MSU-N, and a younger sister, Kate, who is a sophomore at HHS.
Seniors
■ Continued from page 18 deserves. This is as successful a senior class as Havre High has had in some time, and together, they’re not done yet. “I don’t think it will really hit me until state maybe,” Waid said. “I am not thinking about
our season ending or senior night because we still have some big games and divisionals and state left. I might cry like a baby after state or divisionals, but right now, it’s not an issue.”
Havre High girls host Indians at Havre Central; Pony boys finish in Browning Daniel Horton
Havre Daily News sports writer gferguson@havredailynews.com In one final night of Central A basketball action, both the Havre High boys and girls basketball team will wrap up the 2014 regular season. When Havre meets up with conference rival Browning Indians Saturday, a regular season title is on the line for the Blue Pony girls (6-1, 11-6), while the Blue Pony boys (43, 6-11) are playing for bragging rights and momentum. Saturday in Browning the HHS boys will face the Indians at 5 p.m. And Saturday in Havre the HHS girls will host the Indians at 5 p.m. at Havre Central. In the first meeting in mid-January, both Pony squads earned wins. The Pony boys took down the Indians 76-50 at home, and the Pony girls took down the Indians 70-63 in Browning. For the boys on the road, it will most likely take their best game of the season to get a season sweep over the Indians. And it is important to just play well heading into the di-
visional tournament in Belgrade. With a win, the Ponies will finish as the No. 2 seed. With a loss, the Ponies will finish as the No. 3 seed. Either way, the Ponies know they will play the Indians in the first round of the Central A divisional tournament next week. “It would be nice to get the sweep over Browning, and it would be a huge confidence booster,” Havre head coach Curt Leeds said. “Offensively, we are just going to do what we have been doing the last couple of weeks, and, defensively, we might actually work more on our man defense to see what that looks like. We are going to need that at divisionals in those critical times when you do have to get out of your zone.” The offense the Ponies have run, not only in recent weeks but all season, continues to run through Dane Warp and Kade Rismon. The last time the Ponies ran into the Indians, Warp and Rismon combined for 57 points. But other scorers, including Brian Smith, Jase Kato and Nate Rismon, have to continue to find ways to produce. But switching out of their zone, at least for one game, and looking to execute a manto-man defense, the Ponies will need huge games by any athlete to take the floor. The Indians can get out and run, and they can score in bunches. “We haven’t came out in our man defense a lot this season,” Leeds said. “This is a good time to test it. But we are also still trying to find a balance on offense, we still need a couple of kids to step up and score consistently.
Nate has been shooting the ball better, so if we can get one or two more guys to bump up their scoring, that would be great. But we are also expecting Browning to play us more with their zone-and-trap game, instead of their man.” The HHS girls are in a different boat. They should almost be considered a shoe-in for a state tournament berth, but they will first go after another regular season title in their final conference game of the season. Havre defeated Browning earlier in the season in what proved to be a tough road game. This time the Ponies get the Indians in Havre and the winner will clinch the No. 1 spot. “We will have to defend better,” Havre High head coach Dustin Kraske said. “But our kids are communicating well, rotating well, and they are playing very well together. We are pleased and looking forward to playing, and our kids love playing at Havre Central, it a great environment and it should be a great crowd. It will be a great basketball environment.” ■ See Face Browning Page 21 Havre Daily News/Daniel Horton Havre High senior Brandy Lambourne races up the court during a Central A girls game against Lewistown last month in Havre. The Blue Ponies wrap up the regular season with a big game against Browning Saturday night at the Havre Central Gym.