Pony boys own the Central A, again

The Havre High boys tennis team is used to winning Central A team titles. But Thursday and Friday in Bozeman, the Blue Ponies didn’t just win, they blew away all challengers.

The Ponies scored 70 points to win the 2015 Central A title, their sixth in a row and their 21st in the last 22 seasons. Havre did it by qualifying six players for this week’s Class A state tournament, including junior Jeff Miller, who claimed his third straight Central A singles championship Friday, and the tandem of Jerod Boles and Noah Landgraf, who won the doubles championship Friday as well.

“Our boys were dominant this weekend,” HHS head coach George Ferguson said. “We did exactly what we set out to do and then some. We got six boys through to state, and we had another doubles team and two more singles players who got really close. Every player on our team won more than one match, and that right there is a true team championship. So I’m just so proud of all of those guys. They were focused, they were on a mission and it showed by the way they played in Bozeman.”

Joining Miller, Boles and Landgraf on the winner’s podium this weekend was the doubles team of Wyatt Lindbloom and Nate Korb, and sophomore singles standout Jake Sedahl, all of whom finished third in their respective brackets. Sedahl lost in the semifinals, but bounced right back to win three-set matches against No. 1 players from both Livingston and Lewistown to place third, while Lindbloom and Korb rebounded from a quarterfinal loss to the top Livingston team by winning four straight matches to finish third in doubles.

“Jake played his guts out,” Ferguson said. “He had two brutally tough matches to end the tournament, and punch his ticket to state, and he won both, and it was very impressive. He did a fantastic job of just being mentally and physically tough this weekend. And I’m really proud of Wyatt and Nate, too. They both had different partners from last year, and it took them a while to kind of figure things out this season. But they played their best when it mattered most, and other than the loss to Livingston, they were really dominant and left no doubt about whether they were going to state or not. So those three guys had a big, big weekend and it was a lot of fun to watch.”

Havre’s big guns also stepped up big.

Miller has yet to lose a single match in three Central A tourney’s and he was rarely tested this weekend, beating Anaconda’s Carson Boynton 6-4, 6-2 in the finale. Boles and Landgraf, another new Havre team, had to fight for their first divisional title, going three sets with Livingston’s Noble Vance and Collin Gannon in the championship match, but in the end, they prevailed, giving Havre a sweep on the medal stand for the second straight season.

“Those guys were heavy favorites going into the weekend, and that’s not always any easy thing to deal with,” Ferguson said. “So I’m really proud of how all three of them (Miller, Boles, Landgraf) handled that pressure of being expected to win. They all did a great job with that, and it’s awesome to watch them stand up there with their medals after proving they were the absolute best in our division. The three of them really led our team this weekend, and it was fun to watch them accomplish one of the goals they all set for themselves and that was to be individual champions. They all played great and I’m really proud of all of them.”

Miller had to go through teammate Dustin Haas to reach the championship match Friday, while Landgraf and Boles had to do the same in their semifinal against the freshmen duo of Trey Murphy and Kennedy McKay. And that just showed how Havre’s depth was too much for Livingston, Lewistown, Belgrade and Anaconda to overcome. Haas, just a sophomore wound up 2-2 in singles, including wins over both Belgrade and Livingston’s No. 1s, while senior Jamie Lieberg won three matches to add even more to Havre’s point total. And the freshmen duo of Murphy and McKay, all they did in their first divisional tournament was knock off two No. 1 seeds to reach the semifinals, and in the entire tournament, their only losses came against their four teammates who are headed to the state tournament this week.

“That’s the downside to the divisional tournament,” Ferguson said. “You can’t take everybody to state, the brackets just don’t unfold that way. But you know, all 10 of our kids were plenty good enough to make it to state this weekend, that’s how well this team played as a whole. Jamie Lieberg played the best tennis of his life, he fought his heart out and he scored a bunch of points for us. Dustin Haas played great tennis, and in his first trip to divisionals he proved he’s going to be a force the next two years. And then there’s Trey and Kennedy. Those kids weren’t even on the varsity a month ago, and they come to divisionals and get to the semifinals. They were just awesome, they played awesome and they pushed our team to new heights this weekend. And they put the rest of the division on notice that Havre High is going to be pretty darn good in doubles for a long time to come.

“So, while your heart goes out always to the kids who don’t quite get there,” Ferguson added. “I don’t think there was any disappointment on Friday night because all of those kids (Lieberg, Haas, Murphy, McKay) knew they played fantastic tennis, they know they played their very best, and they know they were a big reason why we dominated the tournament as a team this weekend. I’m really proud of those guys. And at the end of the day, along with the six guys who are going to state, they made this tournament another really special one in the history of our boys program. These kids just dominated the tournament. You don’t even have to wonder what the team points are because you look around and you have blue shirts all over the courts, and when you see that, you know you’re playing really well as a team. That’s what it was like for our guys this weekend. It was so much fun, and I just am so proud of what all 10 of those kids accomplished this weekend.”

Now, the six Blue Ponies who did get through the Central A tourney in Bozeman will get ready for the 2015 Class A state tournament, which runs Thursday-Saturday in Missoula.

Central A Boys

At Bozeman

Team Scores

Havre 70, Lewistown 30, Livingston 28, Anaconda 20, Belgrade 5

Singles

Championship – Jeff Miller, HAV def. Carson Boynton, ANA, 6-4, 6-2; Consolation – Jake Sedahl, HAV def. Danyon Rice, LEW, 6-2, 5-7, 6-3.

Doubles

Championship – Jerod Boles/Noah Landgraf, HAV def. Vance/Gannon, LIV, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-4; Consolation – Wyatt Lindbloom/Nate Korb, HAV def. McCarthy/Crouse, LEW, 6-2, 6-2.

Havre Results

Jeff Miller (1st Place)

1st rd – Bye; 2nd rd – def. Jeff Fournier, BEL, 6-0, 6-0; QF – def. Kody Neil, LEW, 6-2, 6-1; SF – def. Dustin Haas, HAV, 6-0, 6-2; Final – def. Carson Boynton, ANA, 6-4, 6-2.

Jake Sedahl (3rd Place)

1st rd – Bye; 2nd rd – def. Simon Solberg, BEL, 6-3, 6-0; QF – def. Danyon Rice, LEW, 6-3, 6-2; SF – lost to Boynton, ANA, 6-1, 6-4; Consolation SF – def. David Noble, LIV, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1; Consolation Final – def. Rice, LEW, 6-2, 5-7, 6-3.

Jamie Lieberg

1st rd – def. Xavier Plouffe, LEW, 6-3, 6-1; 2nd rd – lost to Boynton, ANA, 6-0, 6-0; LO – def. Nick Focken, ANA, 6-1, 6-0; LO – def. Adam Hamilton, BEL, 6-3, 6-2; LO – lost to Noble, LIV, 6-4, 6-7 (8-6), 5-7.

Dustin Haas

1st rd – Bye; 2nd rd – def. Trey Layman, BEL, 6-2, 7-6 (7-1); QF – def. David Noble, LIV, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3; SF – lost to Miller, HAV, 6-0, 6-2; Consolation SF – lost to Rice, LEW, 7-5, 6-2.

Jerod Boles/Noah Landgraf (1st Place)

1st rd – Bye; QF – def. McCarthy/Crouse, LEW, 6-1, 6-1; SF def. Murphy/McKay, HAV, 6-0, 6-1; Final – def. Vance/Gannon, LIV, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-4.

Wyatt Lindbloom/Nate Korb (3rd Place)

1st rd – def. Rodriguez/Deegan, BEL, 6-1, 6-1; QF – lost to Vance/Gannon, LIV, 6-0, 4-6, 6-1; LO – def. Clark Myotte, ANA, 6-1, 6-3; LO – def. Stokke/Deegan, BEL, 6-1, 6-4; Consolation SF – def. Murphy/McKay, HAV, 6-4, 6-2; Consolation Final – def. McCarthy/Crouse, LEW, 6-2, 6-2.

Trey Murphy/Kennedy McKay

1st rd – def. Blodnik/Stetzner, ANA, 6-3, 6-0; QF – def. Olson/O'Leary, BEL, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2; SF – lost to Boles/Landgraf, HAV, 6-0, 6-1; Consolation SF – lost to Lindbloom/Korb, HAV, 6-4, 6-2.