Rain shortens Ponies final prep for divisionals

The Havre High tennis teams didn’t get all the matches they were hoping for Saturday in Lewistown. But with so much bad weather on the horizon, the Blue Ponies, of head coach George Ferguson, were happy they played some tennis at all.

Saturday’s Lewistown Invitational saw the Blue Ponies complete a dual with Livingston, but also saw Havre’s matchup with Dillon interrupted by rain, and a scheduled dual with Lewistown wiped out all together.

“It’s unfortunate. The weather had been so great the last week,” Ferguson said, “but now it’s changing, and we lost some pretty key matches, or didn’t get to finish some big matches against Dillon. And that’s tough because those were the last matches we were going to play before divisionals. So it would have been nice to get them in, but sometimes, Mother Nature wins.”

In the morning, the Havre boys edged Livingston 4-3, with victories by Bobby Personett, who went 2-0 on the day in singles, as well as a sweep in doubles by Nate Korb and Jake Sedahl, Trey Murphy and Kennedy McKay and Tommy Brown and Brady Ophus. Havre’s shortened dual with Dillon saw the Ponies up in the top two doubles matches, while Personett was nearing a victory in singles.

“It was a tough day in some respects for our boys,” Ferguson said. “We had some kids who weren’t feeling well, and just in general, I didn’t feel like we ever really got any momentum going. I don’t think we played up to our capabilities, but on the other side of the coin, our boys really battled. Every day isn’t going to be perfect and Lewistown certainly wasn’t for our guys. But, one thing about our boys team that I really love, they’re all very tough competitors, and they’ll go right back to work this week and make sure they bring their A-game to divisionals. They all love to play and they love to compete and they’ll work hard this week to get ready to go to divisionals and be at their very best.”

It was also an up-and-down day for the young Pony girls. Against Livingston, Havre fell 5-2, with wins coming from Kadyn Acor in singles, and Baylee Miller and Megan Lindbloom at No. 2 doubles. Havre then ran into a tough Dillon team, and in that rain-shortened dual, the duo of Alex Donaldson and Katie Donaldson were closing in on a win at No. 3 doubles.

But, despite the scores, Ferguson saw plenty he liked in his girls team Saturday.

“The Livingston dual showed me a lot,” Ferguson said. “It was pretty much the same matchups as when we saw them last month, and I thought we played much, much better. All three of our girls doubles teams battled and really played well, and so did Paige Nelson and McKenzie Tommerup. And Kadyn Acor turned around a match she dropped last month and really dominated the same opponent. That dual really showed how much our girls have improved over the last month, and that’s all we’ve been trying to do, just get better.

“What I saw from our girls in that one dual, I am confident we’re bringing a team to divisionals that none of the other girls teams better look past. Our girls are coming on strong,” he added.

With the regular season in the books now, the Blue Ponies are turning their attention to the 2017 Central A divisional tournament, which runs Thursday through Saturday in Bozeman. And while Saturday’s matches in Lewistown may have had their ups and downs, Ferguson noted that the postseason is a completely different time for his squads.

“I couldn’t be more excited about, and for the 20 kids and two teams we’re taking to Bozeman,” Ferguson said. “Everything they’ve done this season has been about this coming week. The scores from the past nine weeks don’t matter now. The matches and all the hard work they’ve gone through in practice, it’s been about this week. And our kids are ready, they’re fired up, and we, as Blue Ponies, can’t wait to get down to Bozeman and see what we can do. I just love coaching these kids, and it’s going to be an exciting week for Havre High tennis.”

Lewistown Invitational

BOYS

Havre 4, Livingston 3

Singles

Jakim Ricketts, LIV def. Dustin Haas, HAV, 8-4; Brendan Johnson, LIV def. Trey Hanson, HAV, 8-5; Bobby Personett, HAV def. Paul Heyward, LIV, 8-5; Cole Vandra, LIV def. Tyrel Kjersm, HAV, 8-5.

Doubles

Trey Murphy/Kennedy McKay, HAV def. Morgan Rosberg/Cole Nashan, LIV, 8-2; Jake Sedahl/Nate Korb, HAV def. Austin Clements/Brendon Johnson, LIV, 8-1; Brady Ophus/Tommy Brown, HAV def. Danner Purkett/Jack Lane, LIV, 8-2.

Dillon 4, Havre 3

Singles

Brad Rakich, DIL def. Dustin Haas, HAV, 8-3; Jonothan Leonardson, DIL def. Trey Hanson, HAV, 8-1; Bobby Personett, HAV def. Caleb Jones, DIL, 7-5; Matt Knight, DIL def. Tyrel Kjersem, HAV, 8-5.

Doubles

Jake Sedahl/Nate Korb, HAV def. Todd Nordahl/Kyson Wilson, DIL, 7-5; Trey Murphy/Kennedy McKay, HAV def. Luke Peterson/Mark Southam, DIL, 5-4; Turner Sawyer/Nate Leonardson, DIL def. Tommy Brown/Brady Ophus, HAV, 6-3.

GIRLS

Livingston 5, Havre 2

Singles

Taylor Walker, LIV def. Paige Nelson, HAV, 8-4; Reagan Smith, LIV def. McKenzie Tommerup, HAV, 8-6; Kadyn Acor, HAV def. Nacoya Madden, LIV, 8-2; Lilly Eaton, LIV def. Bryn Nault, HAV, 8-1.

Doubles

Stormy Knerr/Katherine Kant, LIV def. Marcee Murphy/Devyn Solomon, HAV, 8-5; Megan Lindbloom/Baylee Miller, HAV def. Sylvie Schonenen/Sarah Haines, LIV, 8-6; Maia Reddington/Bobbi Ling, LIV def. Alex Donaldson/Katie Donaldson, HAV, 8-4.

Dillon 5, Havre 2

Singles

Mariah McClure, DIL def. Paige Nelson, HAV, 8-1; Maggie Magee, DIL def. McKenzie Tommerup, HAV, 8-1; Nicole Hritisco, DIL def. Kadyn Acor, HAV, 8-0; Vika Miroradskia, DIL def. Bryn Nault, HAV, 8-2.

Doubles

Tessa Sawyer/Adrienne Southam, DIL def. Marcee Murphy/Devyn Solomon, DIL, 8-0; Megan Lindbloom/Baylee Miller won by fft; Katie Donaldson/Alex Donaldson, HAV def. Quinn Belderrain/Ashlyn Small, DIL, 7-6.