Pony tennis is underway

The Havre High boys and girls tennis teams have a long season in front of them. But that season got off to a good start according to Blue Pony head coach George Ferguson.

Saturday, the Ponies began their season at the Cut Bank Invitational, and though Havre was missing plenty of its varsity lineup, as were teams from Cut Bank, Conrad and Lewistown, Ferguson was happy nonetheless.

“Cut Bank wasn’t about scores and results,” Ferguson said. “It was about getting the opportunity to play tennis. It was about getting the season started and gaining valuable match experience, and we got a lot of all of that this weekend. So I’m really pleased. The weather was great for this time of year and a lot of kids played a lot of tennis and that was the most important thing.”

Though Havre played three duals, Ferguson noted that team scores were not kept because all four teams were missing plenty of players due to proms and other obligations.

For the HHS boys, Havre played some of its varsity lineup in a dual against Cut Bank, and they went 7-1 in those matches. The rest of the day, the Ponies played short-handed, but were still successful as they won seven of the 10 matches they played against opponents from Conrad and Lewistown.

“We mixed our boys lineup around all day,” Ferguson said. “We had three freshmen there who hadn’t played a high school tennis match before, and all three of those kids did an outstanding job and gained a ton of experience, and that’s exactly what we wanted to get out of the day. I was excited about what I saw from those three guys.”

Speaking of freshmen, the Havre girls team played three freshmen all day against the Wolves, Eagles and Cowgirls. All three, Paige Nelson, Marca Herron and Maecee Titeca, were playing their first high school tournament and, combined, they played 15 matches between the three of them.

“I couldn’t be more proud of those three girls,” Ferguson said. “Not only was it their first high school tournament, but it was really their first matches of any kind, and they spent the day playing mostly against juniors and seniors. And not only that, but they had to play a lot. Normally, with a full team, you’d play three times in one day, but those three played a lot more than that. So they did an outstanding job, and again, they gained a ton of experience in just one day, and it will benefit them greatly down the road.”

Havre’s road continues this weekend with the Conrad Invitational, where the Ponies will again dual Cut Bank, Conrad and Lewiston. And while Ferguson expects more of his varsity lineup onhand for those duals, he said the process and objectives remain the same as they were Saturday in Cut Bank.

“All we are looking for is for kids to learn and improve right now,” Ferguson said. “And the kids we took to Cut Bank did an excellent job of that. They all did a great job Saturday, and we’ll continue to work on the same things going forward.”

Cut Bank Invitational

GIRLS

Havre vs Cut Bank

Singles

Allie Anderson, CB def. Paige Nelson, HAV, 6-2; Dakota Dosch, CB def. Paige Nelson, HAV, 6-1; Paige Johnson, CB def. Paige Nelson, HAV, 6-4; Megan Barrett, CB def. Marca Herron, HAV, 6-2.

Doubles

Duana Gobert/Alex Kraft, CB def. Maecee Titeca/Marca Herron, HAV, 6-0; Donelle Novak/Katrina Sandoval, CB def. Maecee Titeca/Marca Herron, HAV, 6-1; Macy Curtiss/Kaylee McGarvey, CB def. Marca Herron/Maecee Titeca, HAV, 6-0.

Havre vs Conrad

Singles

Ali Wakinnen, CON def. Paige Nelson, HAV, 6-1; Dania Jones, CON def. Paige Nelson, HAV, 6-0; Kirsten Wentworth, CON def. Marca Herron, HAV, 6-0.

Doubles

Marca Herron/Maecee Titeca, HAV def. Cassie Gongaware/Laura Rapier, CON, 6-3.

Havre vs Lewistown

Singles

Abby Gatz, LEW def. Marca Herron, HAV, 6-2; Summer Elmore, LEW def. Marca Herron, HAV, 6-0; Taylor Woods, LEW def. Maecee Titeca, HAV, 6-0.

Doubles

Paige Nelson/Maecee Titeca, HAV def. Audra Fry/Lissy Southworth, LEW, 6-5 (7-5).

BOYS

Havre vs Cut Bank

Singles

Jeff Miller, HAV def. Josh Biegler, CB, 6-0; Jamie Lieberg, HAV def. Jordan Castle, CB, 6-0; Jesse Burtness, CB def. Jake Sedahl, HAV, 6-3; Kendall Holden, HAV def. Jacob Baker, CB, 6-1.

Doubles

Noah Landgraf/Jerod Boles, HAV def. Brandon Ostby/Spencer Czech, CB, 6-5 (7-4); Wyatt Lindbloom/Nate Korb, HAV def. Josh Biegler/Jordan Castle, CB, 6-2; Jesse Burtness/Brandon Ostby, CB def. Trey Hanson/Kyle Kirkpatrick, HAV, 6-1.

Havre vs Conrad

Singles

Noah Landgraf, HAV def. Cordell Wittmier, CON, 6-4; Austin Padilla, CON def. Kendall Holden, HAV, 6-0.

Doubles

Noah Landgraf/Kyle Kirkpatrick, HAV def. Parker Larson/Dawson Berg, CON, 6-4; Kennedy McKay/Brady Ophus, HAV def. Brandon Vanderbush/Michael Bender, CON, 6-2.

Havre vs Lewistown

Singles

Noah Landgraf, HAV def. Kody Nei, LEW, 6-5 (7-5); Danyon Rice, LEW def. Kendall Holden, HAV 6-0; Trip Crouse, LEW def. Brady Ophus, HAV, 6-0; Kennedy McKay, HAV def. Tanner Mannin, LEW, 6-0.

Doubles

Kyle Kirkpatrick/Kennedy McKay def. Ryan Fisk/Chase Farrar, LEW, 6-3.