Pony netters geared up for tough duals

The Havre High boys and girls tennis teams are entering the fourth weekend of competition, and that means things are going to start to get fast and furious for the Blue Ponies.

It also means things will get a lot more difficult.

And the stiffer competition starts with this weekend’s Class A Duals, hosted by the Cut Bank Wolves. The dual tourney gets started with Havre playing Hardin and Whitefish Friday, then the Ponies will return to Cut Bank to play Libby, now a Class B team, as well as Polson Saturday.

“This is a great tournament for us,” HHS head coach George Ferguson said. “The first three competitions, all we were trying to do is improve as much as we possibly could. Keeping it really simple and just getting our fundamentals in order. Now, against this competition, we’ll be able to really gauge how far we’ve come so far, and how far we still need to go. So, these four duals are a great measuring stick for our teams.”

The Class A Duals also start a string of tough events for the Ponies, who will be in Lewistown to dual all of the Central A next weekend, before heading off to Glendive to do the same against the Eastern A in two weeks. So, over the next three tournaments, Havre is going to see a lot of fellow Class A competition, and Ferguson is excited about that.

“Starting this weekend in Cut Bank, we’re going to get to see a lot of the singles players and doubles teams we’ll be facing at divisionals and state,” he said. “So that is great. Our schedule will be very competitive over the next few weeks, so not only will we get to see those teams, but playing against them is only going to help us get better and better. So we’re very excited about that, and thankful for the schedule we have.”

In Cut Bank, Ferguson said all four of Havre’s duals will be challenging. He said that the Hardin boys and girls will both be strong, as will the Whitefish boys and girls. The Whitefish boys are considered one of the teams to beat in Class A this season. He also pointed to the Polson girls as one of the top teams in Class A, so Havre will be presented with plenty of challenges on the court.

But, the Ponies are bringing strong lineups of their own. On the boys side, Havre is led by senior Jeff Miller in singles, as well as the doubles tandem of Jerod Boles and Jake Sedahl. Junior Dustin Haas is also looking sharp in singles this season, while Brady Ophus and freshman Tommy Brown are at the No. 3 and No. 4 spots, respectively. Trey Hanson and Nate Korb and Kennedy McKay and Trey Murphy round out a strong doubles lineup for the Ponies.

On the girls side, Havre is becoming extremely deep in doubles. The senior duos of Reggie Bernard and Alara Vogel and Madison Huebsch and Rainey Stoner lead the way, while sophomores Alex Donaldson and Megan Lindbloom are becoming a very tough No. 3. On the singles side, sophomore Paige Nelson continues to make strides at the No. 1 spot, while steady seniors Meggan Smith and Ashley Hoffland are playing well. Sophomore Marca Herron rounds out the Pony lineup, while Havre junior varsity players could also see some time this weekend due to District Music Festival.

“Our kids are playing well,” Ferguson said. “I thought we showed a ton of improvement at the Havre Invitational. Now, we’re looking to take that next step. And that’s more in terms of playing well against even tougher competition, more than it is just winning these duals. Of course we want to win every time we go out there, but, again this weekend, I’m more interested in seeing how we play against teams that we’ll be seeing again down the road. So, this weekend should be a really good test for us.”

Friday, Havre duals Hardin starting at 9:30 a.m. followed by a dual with Whitefish at 12 p.m. Saturday, Havre takes on Libby at 12:30 p.m. and Polson at 3 p.m. The Havre High girls also have a dual with Class B-C defending state champion Chinook next Tuesday afternoon.