Pony tennis teams look to finish strong at the Lewistown Invite

The Havre High tennis teams have been playing a lot of tennis matches as of late. And it's all been preparation for the upcoming postseason.

On Saturday, the Blue Ponies, of head coach George Ferguson, have one more chance to get ready for next week's Central A Divisional.

The Ponies will compete in the Lewistown Invitational Saturday, where they'll dual Central A foes Livingston, Belgrade and Lewistown. HHS also gets to play Southwest A stalwart Dillon and Eastern A favorite Hardin.

And with the divisional tournament now less than a week away, Ferguson says, Saturday is the most important tennis matches his teams will play this season.

"The records, or the wins and losses isn't why the Lewistown Invitational is so important," Ferguson said. "I have always looked at this meet as the beginning of our divisional tournament. It's important that we go down there and put our best foot forward, that we play at a high level. This is our time to be peaking, to be playing our best tennis, and that's what the kids need to do on Saturday."

Indeed. Havre has been playing well of late, especially against top-notch competition last weekend in Helena. But this weekend's meet in Lewistown will be an even bigger gauge of where the Ponies are heading into next week's divisional tourney in Bozeman.

"It's just really important that we don't take any steps back," Ferguson said. "No one is going to win or lose the divisional tournament in Lewistown, but you can certainly build a lot of positive momentum for it by playing well in Lewistown. That's what I've always preached to our kids about this meet."

The Havre boys are on a roll right now and are led by the senior doubles tandem of Trey Murphy and Kennedy McKay. But the Ponies' second and third doubles teams, the duos of Reese Bulkley and Jake Huston, and Brady Ophus and Tyrel Kjersem, will play important matches this weekend, while Ferguson said his singles lineup is another focal point. Tommy Brown, Josh Warp, Vander Swensen and Kendall Holden are all playing singles at divisionals for either the first time in their careers, or not since they were younger, as was the case for Brown, when he was a freshman. Freshman Mick Chagnon will also compete for the Ponies this weekend.

"This will be a good test for our boys," Ferguson said. "They're playing well, but the fact of the matter is, this team doesn't have a ton of postseason experience. So it's imperative they go down to Lewistown and play at a high level."

Havre's girls team, however, does have plenty of Central A experience. In fact, the Ponies are taking the same 10 players to divisionals next week, that they did a year ago. Only, the likes of Paige Nelson, Cassidy and Kadyn Acor, McKenzie Tommerup and the doubles teams of Megan Lindbloom and Baylee Miller, Marcee Murphy and Devyn Solomon, and Katie and Alex Donaldson are a year older and a year wiser.

"Our girls have a ton of experience for this time of year," Ferguson said. "Paige, Alex and Megan have all been on varsity since they were freshmen. All of our girls know what this time of year is about. So Saturday will be a great way for them to get ready for the divisional tournament."

And that's the goal. While Ferguson said he would like to see his teams win all the duals they play Saturday, he's more focused on how they accomplish that.

"In tennis, you can lose a match and still feel like you played really well," Ferguson said. "And you can win and feel like you didn't play well at all. That's the reality of our sport. So this weekend, whether we win or lose, I want every one of our players to be able to say they played well and that they're ready for divisionals. That's the mindset we need to have. We need to leave Lewistown feeling confident about how we're playing and about the divisional tournament. That's the most important thing we need to get out of this weekend."

The Ponies will play five duals in Lewistown Saturday, weather permitting. They'll then get ready for next Thursday and Friday's divisional tournament in Bozeman.