Ponies set to battle Class A foes in Cut Bank

Last weekend was an exciting one for the Havre High tennis teams. The Havre Invitational always is.

Now however, the Blue Ponies are about to put the Havre Invite, and Havre for that matter, in their rearview mirror.

The Ponies, of longtime head coach George Ferguson, are embarking on the heart of their schedule, starting with two days of duals in Cut Bank. Havre is set to take part in the Class A Duals Friday and Saturday and will battle Hardin for the second week in a row, as well as Northwest A powers, Whitefish, Polson and Libby.

"This is always the start of phase two of our season," Ferguson said. "Weather permitting, we have a lot of big matches coming up, against a lot of our Class A peers. So this next four weeks, it's huge, it's huge for our progress."

Cut Bank is big because its the only time the Ponies will see much of the Northwest A. Ferguson said that Polson's girls, the defending Class A state champs, are loaded again this season, while the Whitefish boys and girls are both strong. And Havre already knows how tough Hardin is, considering the Bulldogs were in the Havre Invite last weekend, and swept all four championships.

"We're going to see some very strong teams, and some very good individual players in Cut Bank," Ferguson said, "and that's exactly what we need. I'm still at a point in the season where, it's more about the kind of tennis we're playing, than it is about the end result. And, iron sharpens iron as they say, so, because we're going to see a lot of really strong competition this weekend, we have no choice but to step our game up, too."

Havre will look to its veteran players to lead the way in Cut Bank. On the boys side, the doubles teams of Tommy Brown and Tyrel Kjersem and Jake Huston and Reese Bulkley are playing at a high level, while the girls doubles teams of Marcee Murphy and Devyn Solomon, Cassidy and Kadyn Acor and Teagan Fee and Tiffany Ralph, as well as senior singles standout McKenzie Tommerup are doing the same.

"Our older kids, they're at a point where they should start feeling like they're already better tennis players than they were a year ago, the rust should be gone, and they should be advancing quickly now," Ferguson said. "Our younger kids, they also should be advancing, but they need a lot more match experience to do that, so getting four duals this weekend will be big for us."

Advancing, improving, that's the goal for Ferguson's troops, too. While he says he certainly will be happy if his teams are successful in the win-loss column this weekend in Cut Bank, he insists, improving is more important right now."

"I can be a broken record with that at times," Ferguson said, "but it's true. I care a lot more about how we play, and how much we improve right now. That's what's important because the goal is to never peak. The goal is to be better, every day in practice, and every weekend in matches. And that's what I've challenged our kids to be this weekend, be better than they were in Havre last week. If they do that, then we know we're on the right track, and I have a feeling they'll all do that because they've been working hard."

Havre is set to play Polson and Hardin Friday in Cut Bank, then return to play Libby and Whitefish Saturday. The Ponies will also host a varsity/JV dual with Great Falls Central and the Chinook girls next Tuesday.