Blue Pony netters dominate Cut Bank Invitational

The first meet of a new season is always an exciting time for Havre High head tennis coach George Ferguson. And as usual, his Blue Ponies made the most of the season-opening Cut Bank Invitational.

The Havre boys and girls combined for three individual titles, and eight different places in Cut Bank Saturday, but more important to Ferguson was how his teams played.

"I was really excited about the overall way we played in Cut Bank," Ferguson said. "We asked the kids to go down there and put in the effort, and just make sure they played their best, and they did that. I really thought they all exceeded expectations for this time of year. From the seniors, to our first-year kids, everybody played some really good tennis, and the reason that's so encouraging is because this is only the beginning. It's only March. We're going to keep getting better."

The Havre High girls were led by the efforts of Grace Crantz and Courtney Burchard, who took first place in the girls doubles draw. Havre also saw its No. 2 team of Mylee Shennum and Cat Kaftan place fourth as the Ponies had a strong day in doubles.

In the No. 1 girls singles draw, Rayna Johnson placed fifth for the Ponies, while in the No. 3-4 singles draw, freshman Tonya Ralph finished third in her first high school tennis tournament.

"Our girls did a great job," Ferguson said. "Our returning girls, you could see how much they've improved from last season. This weekend showed just how far they've come. I was also really excited about all the first-year players we took down there and what they did. Not only did they learn a lot and get a ton of experience Saturday, but they literally improved from the beginning of the day to the end. So again, I was really pumped about the way our girls team played."

The Havre boys had a really good day, too.

The Ponies swept the individual championships, with the team of Trenton Maloughney and Caleb Spangler beating the Havre tandem of Theron Peterson and Carter Spangler in the doubles championship. In singles, Josh Currie dominated the No. 1 singles bracket, not dropping a single game, while senior Kendall Pleninger took third. In the No. 3-4 singles bracket, Jared Rosgaard beat teammate Gavin Hall in the championship match, while freshman Matt Huse finished fourth in his first tournament action.

"It was a good day for our boys team," Ferguson said. "Our older guys got the season started the way we were hoping. All those guys played really solid. And we took a bunch of younger guys too, and wow, they played great. I think it showed how much depth our buoys program is going to have this season, so it was a really good effort from our boys team."

At the end of the day, the Blue Ponies won a lot of matches, but again, it was more than what Ferguson saw out of his teams.

"I'm just really pleased with the effort, the excitement our kids showed, just how hard they went out and played, and the focus they had," Ferguson said. "Right now, it's the little things we're grinding on, it's the details we're focusing on, and our kids were locked in on that, and I'm proud of them all for that. They did everything we asked of them in Cut Bank, and it was a great start to the season."

Havre will continue its early portion of the schedule with Saturday's Conrad Invitational.

Cut Bank Invite

Havre Results

Girls Doubles

Grace Crantz/Courtney Burchard def. Emerald Tinsley/Addison Goalie, 6-0; def. Cruz/Johnston, CB, 6-5 (7-2), def. Dunaway/Vetterdalh, CB, 8-1

Mylee Shennum/Cat Kaftan def. Buckman/Leys, CHO, 6-2; lost to Vetterdalh/Dunaway, CB, 6-1; def. Preeshl/Ucin, HAV, 6-5 (7-1), lost to Cruz/Johnston, CB, 8-3.

Emerald Tinsley/Addison Goalie lost to Crantz/ Burchard, HAV, 6-0; lost to Preeshl/Ucin, HAV, 6-1.

Lacy Preeshl/Claudia Ucin lost to Cruz/Johnson, CB, 6-4; def. Tinsley/Goalie, HAV, 6-1; lost to Kaftan/Shennum, HAV, 6-5 (7-1).

Girls Singles 1-2

Rayna Jonnson def. Overstreet, CB, 6-4; lost to Broesder, CON, 6-0; lost to Hutton, CON, 6-3.

Chloe Bricker lost to Major, CHO, 6-2; lost to Hutton, CON, 6-1.

Girls Singles 3-4

Kyle Greenwood lost to Clark, CON, 6-3; lost to Meichter, CHO, 7-5

Tonya Ralph lost to Betrtz, CB, 6-2; def. Arndt, CON, 6-1; def. Clark, CON, 6-3; def. Bertel, C 8-5.

Boys Doubles

Caleb Spangler/Trenton Maloughney def. Burke/Black, CB, 6-2; def. Peterson/Spangler, HAV, 8-4.

Theron Peterson/Carter Spangler def. Gray/Dewart, CB, 6-3; lost to Spangler/Maloughney, HAV, 8-4.

Conner McKay/Collin Miller lost to Burke/Black, CB, 6-1; lost to Gray/Dwwart, CB 6-4.

Tre Gary/Reid Kato lost to Gray/Dewart, CB 6-3; lost to Burke/Black, CB6-4.

Boys Singles 1-2

Josh Currie def. Bird, CB, 6-0; def. Gohr, CB, 8-0.

Kendall Pleninger lost to Gohr, CB, 6-5 (7-5), def. Bird, CB, 8-5.

Boys Singles 3-4

Jared Rosgaard def. Berkram, CB, 6-0; def. Hall, HAV, 8-3

Gavin Hall def. Reagan, CB, 6-1; def. Huse, HAV, 6-2; lost to Rosgaard, HAV, 8-3.

Matt Huse def. Van Dyke, CON< 6-4, lost to Hall, HAV, 6-2; def. Headress, HAV, 6-2, lost to Berkram, CB, 8-2.

Jackson Headress lost to Berkram, CB, 6-1; lost to Huse, HAV, 6-2.