Pony netters split with the Pirates on their home courts

The Havre High and Polson tennis teams have had a great, competitive rivalry over the years. So, it was exciting for the Blue Ponies to get the rare opportunity host the Pirates on a warm sunny Monday in Havre.

And, according to longtime head coach George Ferguson, the dual was exactly what he was hoping for.

"Just really grateful to Polson and Coach (Hislop) for making the trip," Ferguson said. "He and I have been friends a long time so it was really awesome to have them up to play us.

"As for the tennis, it was great," he continued. "Polson has strong teams so it was great competition for us, and I thought all of our kids did a great job. We played well."

The Havre boys certainly did, as they beat the Pirates 6-1.

In singles, Josh Currie continued his fine play with a dominant win at the No. 1 spot, while senior Jared Rosgaard had a big win at No. 2 and fellow senior Kendall Pleninger prevailed in a third set at the No. 4 spot.

Havre's teams of Caleb Spangler/Trenton Maloughney, Carter Spangler/Theron Peterson and Tre Gary/Reid Kato also swept the doubles portion of the match.

"I saw plenty of good things from our boys," Ferguson said. "The wins by Jared and Kendall, and Theron and Carter were key to the dual. I think our boys are on the right track, they're not satisfied, they know we need to keep improving, but against a really strong Polson team, they showed that they're heading in the direction we want to be going at this point in the season."

The Polson girls are the defending state champions, and it showed Monday, as the Pirates swept the Ponies, 7-0. Havre was without its top two singles players for the dual, but, the Pirates were very strong. The doubles teams of Grace Crantz and Courtney Burchard and Lacy Preeshl and Claudia Ucin, though, contested really close matches.

"I was very happy with the way our girls performed," Ferguson said. "With a young team, it's still about how we play more than it is what the scores are, and our girls played really good. I was very pleased, and that Polson team is really, really good."

And how the Ponies play was the most important thing about the dual, as Havre continues on its course toward the upcoming divisional tournament.

"This was the perfect time to play Polson," Ferguson said. "They are very strong and every match we did win, we had to go out and earn it. It was great experience for our boys and girls and it will certainly help us get better, which is the ultimate goal right now.

"I'm very proud of the way all our kids played," Ferguson continued. "I think we can gain a lot from today, and we just need to use that going forward because divisionals is right around the corner."

Havre is back on the court Friday and Saturday at the Mayfair Invitational in Billings.

Havre Boys 6, Polson 1

Singles

Josh Currie, HAV def. Torrian Ellis, P, 6-0, 6-4; Jared Rosgaard, HAV def. Chris Lake, P, 6-2, 7-5; Otto Lund, P def. Gavin Hall, HAV, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, 6-3; Kendall Pleninger, HAV def. Casey Trosper, P, 1-6, 7-6 (8-6), 10-3.

Doubles

Trenton Maloughney/Caleb Spangler, HAV, 6-4, 6-3; Carter Spangler/Theron Peterson, HAV, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4; Tre Gary/Reid Kato, HAV, 6-4, 6-1.

Polson 6, Havre Girls 1

Singles

Clara Todd, P def. Kate Hemmer, HAV, 6-1, 6-0; Sierra Lundeen, P, Tonya Ralph, HAV, 6-0, 6-1; Piper Hoxie, P def. Kylie Greenwood, HAV, 6-0, 6-3; Hope Morrison, P def. Lindsey Leinwand, HAV, 6-0, 6-0.

Doubles

Camilla Foresti/Katie Smidh, P def. Grace Crantz/Courtney Burchard, HAV, 7-5, 6-4; Lucy Violette/Summer Newman, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3; Cat Kaftan/Mylee Shennum, HAV won by fft, lost to Karli Owen/Lucy Violette, P, 6-2, 6-2 in exhibition.