Blue Pony tennis teams ready to battle in Glendive

By Havre Daily Staff

The Havre Blue Pony tennis teams played some tough competition Tuesday in Great Falls. On Friday and Saturday, the Blue Ponies get right back at it.

With the postseason just three weeks away, the Blue Pony netters are trying to improve as much as they can so that they peak at the right time, and this weekend's Elks Invitational in Glendive will help them do just that said HHS head coach George Ferguson.

"We've had to play catch-up for most of this season, one because we missed last year, and two because we have such young teams," Ferguson said. "But now, it feels like we're kind of finally getting over that hump where it's more about advancing our game than it is about making up for what we lost last year. I think the kids have done a great job of focusing on just getting better, just focusing on the fundamentals, and now we're at a point where we can really fine-tune things, and these matches this weekend will help us do that."

Havre did some of that Tuesday in Great Falls, where the Ponies dualed Butte Central, Great Falls High and CMR. Against really strong competition, Ferguson said his teams took things up a notch, and now that they're about set to take on Eastern A rivals Miles City, Glendive, Billings Central and Hardin, he said, his Ponies need to take another step forward.

"Huge from that standpoint," Ferguson said. "We get to play a ton of matches against all of our divisional opponents, and some of them twice. We still haven't played Miles City yet, and this will be our first time seeing Billings Central. So we're going to use these duals as another springboard forward, but also, we'll find out a lot about our the progress we're making. So this is a big weekend for us."

It will certainly be for the Havre boys who are trying to cement themselves as the team to beat in the Northeast A. Led by the top doubles duo of Josh Warp and Trenton Maloughney, who swept their AA opponents Tuesday, as well as top singles player Josh Currie, the Ponies are going to battle both Glendive and Miles City for the top spot at divisionals next month. But in order to do that, Ferguson said he's still looking for the exact lineup that will give his team the best chance come the postseason.

"Our boys team is playing well," Ferguson said. "But this is the latest I've ever gone into the season without a set lineup. We just have a lot of young guys that are still kind of battling it out to see where they fit best, and how it all goes together to give our team the best chance to succeed. The picture is getting clearer, but we still have to figure some things out, and this weekend will help with that, too."

The pony girls lineup, Ferguson says, is more clear, but that's also because Havre is just so young that things have just sort of fallen into place as Ferguson prepares his team not only for this season, but for the future as well. Veteran doubles teams Talia Ralph and Grace Crantz and McKenzie Mangold and Destiny Hernandez are leading the charge for the HHS girls.

"This has been a big learning year for our girls," Ferguson said. "They're great a group. All those newcomers are learning and enjoying playing tennis and that's where it starts. It's also tough on them because our schedule is so difficult, but at the end of the day, they're doing a great job and they're growing as individual players and as a team every single day. It's fun to watch their progress."

And progress is still the thing that's foremost on Ferguson's mind as Havre heads to Glendive, where the Ponies will face Miles City, Central and Glendive Friday, as well as Miles City and Hardin Saturday.

"Just trying to get better, but now, we want to get better with big steps forward every time we take the court," Ferguson said. "The goal is the same overtime we go out there, and that's to compete as hard as we can and improve as much as we can. But at the same time, the clock is ticking, divisionals is getting close now, so we've got to make sure we keep moving forward."