Havre High tennis teams win in rainy Lewistown

The Havre High tennis teams are used to playing in rough weather, as a colder than normal April continues. However, the Blue Ponies got more weather than they bargained for Saturday in Lewistown.

Havre was scheduled to dual all of their Northeast A rivals Saturday in Lewistown, but the final dual against Miles City was washed away by rain, so the Ponies only got to play Lewistown and Glendive, where the Havre boys went undefeated and the Pony girls went 1-1.

“We were really looking forward to playing Miles City because we hadn’t seen them yet,” HHS head coach George Ferguson said. “But the rain came in pretty hard, and the last couple hours of the day just weren’t going to happen.

“Still, we got two duals in,” he continued. “And the kids did a great job I thought. Since we had seen Lewistown and Glendive several times already, playing them again was a great measuring stick for us, and I could see through those matches that we’re improving, and that’s all I want right now, is just to keep getting better.”

The HHS boys opened the day with a 4-3 win over Lewistown, as Havre swept the doubles and Josh Currie blanked Lewistown’s top singles player. The Ponies then beat Glendive 5-2 behind another strong performance from the doubles teams of Josh Warp and Trenton Maloughney, Caleb Spangler and Collin Miller and Theron Peterson and Conner McKay.

“We didn’t lose a single boys doubles match Saturday, and that’s big because we have all new doubles teams this spring,” Ferguson said. “So I feel really good about where we are with our doubles lineup. But overall, I think we did a lot of good things with those two matches. I thought our boys continued to make strides.”

Ferguson said his girls did, too.

The Ponies did fall to Lewistown 6-1 as the Eagles dominated the singles, but Havre rebounded to beat Glendive before the heavy rain came in.

Grace Crantz and Talia Ralph went 2-0 in doubles, while McKenzie Mangold and Destiny Hernandez beat the No. 2 team from Lewistown and Courtney Burchard and Chloe Bricker beat the No. 3 from Glendive. Kate Hemmer also scored a singles win against the Red Devils.

“Really excited about our girls team,” Ferguson said. “You cans see them just getting better and better. Most of these girls, they’re in the middle of the first tennis season of any kind for them. So while they may not always see it, I see how much they’re growing, how much they’re learning. They’re doing a great job and I’m proud of them.”

And if improvement is still the name of the game for the Ponies, they’ll get many more chances this week. Havre travels to Great Falls for duals against Butte Central, CMR and GFH Tuesday, then the Ponies head to Glendive for the two-day Glendive Elks Invitational.

“It’s the home stretch of our regular season,” Ferguson said. “We’re going to get a lot of match time this week and next. So this is our chance to really make a big jump forward as we get ready for the postseason, and I think both of our teams are ready to do that. They played really well this weekend, and now we’ll just keep moving forward.”

Lewistown Invite

BOYS

Havre 4, Lewistown 3

Singles

Josh Currie, H def. Gabe Arndt, LEW, 8-0; Michael Deguzman, LEW def. Jared Rosgaard, H, 8-5; Rafe Bruchez, LEW def. Carter Spangler, H, 8-6; Carter Rock, LEW def. Gavin Hall, H, 8-5.

Doubles

Josh Warp/Trenton Maloughney, H def. Hoots/LePage, LEW, 8-0; Caleb Spangler/Collin Miller, H def. Day/Smert, LEW, 8-1; Theron Peterson/Conner McKay, H won FFT, def. Hoots/LePage, L, 6-4 in ex.

Havre 5, Glendive 2

Singles

Carson Staiger, G def. Josh Currie, H, 8-7 (5); Jentz Scarphold, G def. Jafred Rosgaard, H, 8-4; Austin Jacobson, G def. Carter Spangler, H, 8-6; Gavin Hall, H def. Carson Bogar, 6-5 (4) in ex.

Doubles

Josh Warp/Trenton Maloughney, H def. Lee/Tristan, G, 8-0; Caleb Spangler/Collin Miller, H def. Bogar/Deffy, G, 8-0; Theron Peterson/Conner, H def. Lee/Tristan, G, 6-5 (3).

GIRLS

Lewistown 5, Havre 2

Singles

Kayla Krook-Lee, LEW def. Rayna Johnson, H, 8-0; Skylar Ruten, L def. Kaylee Torgerson, H, 8-0; Natalie Day, L def. Kate Hemmer, H, 8-0; Marla Villarule, LEW def. Mylee Schennum, H, 8-1.

Doubles

Grace Crantz/Talia Ralph, H def. Mecklenburg/Mason, LEW, 8-3; McKenzie Mangold/Destiny Hernandez, H def. Breidenbach/Peterson, LEW, 8-6; Behl/Plagenz, LEW def. Chloe Bricker/Courtney Burchard, H, 8-5.

Havre 4, Glendive 3

Singles

Addison Marx, G def. Rayna Johnson, H, 8-1; Metoya Tipton, G, def. Kaylee Torgerson, H, 8-4; Kate Hemmer, H def. Ramey Coon, G, 8-6; Mylee Schennum, H won by FFT, def. by Lily Omstead, G, 6-3.

Doubles

Grace Crantz/Talia Ralph, H, Wine/Unden. G, 8-5; Steinber/Zimdars, G def. McKenzie Mangold/Destiny Hernandez,. H, 8-5; Chloe Bricker/Courtney Burchard, H def. Olmstead/Yarde, G, 8-1.