GREAT FALLS — The Havre girls won their second consecutive State A title on Saturday, with a 42-36 win over Hardin on Saturday and it was a star-making performance for a freshman guard with a familiar name.
Sadie Filius scored 13 points and grabbed a team high 7 rebounds in the title game, and what she lacks in experience she made up for in toughness and confidence, hitting big shots down the stretch to help the Blue Ponies pull away from the Bulldogs.
Filius is one of several young underclassmen playing quality minutes for Havre, so she knows expectations will be sky high for many years to come.
“We’re going to be expected to do it again,” Filius said. “But we can’t let that get to our head and we just got to let that keep going. Take it one game at a time.”
Filius credits her successful freshman campaign to supportive teammates and coaches that put faith in her.
“It’s just everyone has been so helpful and everyone has believed in me and helped me develop,” she said. “All the coaches, teammates, it’s a really good program.”
Coach Dustin Kraske was happy to see Filius shine in such a big moment.
“She’s a stud, we kind of expect her to do that, honestly,” he said. “She’s a freshman only in age. She’s played a lot of basketball, seen a lot of basketball and it’s impressive.”
The Filius family had a bit of a scheduling conflict this weekend. Sadie’s mother Kari was in attendance to watch Havre win a state title, while her dad Scott – the longtime Havre wrestling coach – was in Minnesota to watch son Parker Filius wrestle for Purdue at the Big 10 Championships.
