Blue Pony netters preparing for divisionals

The goal for the Havre High tennis teams is to be as sharp as they can possibly be for the Northeast A Divisional Tournament. And since that tournament is now just one week away, the clock is ticking.

Havre travels to Lewistown for the Fergus Invitational Friday and then wraps up the regular season Saturday at the Miles City Invite. And both tournaments will be critical to Havre's chances at divisionals according to longtime head coach George Ferguson.

"This is a huge weekend for us," Ferguson said. "First, we get six more matches. That's six more opportunities to just get better. That's been the goal all along and the kids have done that the entire season. We've been getting better and better.

"This weekend is also big though because some of the duals are the last chances to play our division opponents head to head, and that's the top criteria in seeding the divisional tournament. So for us, we've always approached this week as, divisionals really starts now."

In Lewistown, Havre will dual Miles City, Billings Central and Lewistown, so two of those duals will be used for seeding, while the Ponies will face Miles City, Glendive and Central in Miles City on Saturday.

"All those duals will be really good," Ferguson said. "This time of year, everybody is playing at a high level, so these matches, they will be very good matches for our kids."

The Havre boys are in a dogfight with Miles City for the divisional championship next weekend. And while the Ponies have a very strong lineup with star singles player Josh Currie, as well as top doubles teams of Trenton Maloughney and Caleb Spangler, Theron Peterson and Carter Spangler and Collin Miller and Conner McKay, they will also need to see some divisional newcomers step up this week and next, as sophomore Reid Kato and senior Kendall Pleninger will be first-time divisional players, while senior Jared Rosgaard is making his second start at divisionals next week.

On the girls side, newcomers will also be key to Havre's lineup in the final weeks of the season.

While veterans Rayna Johnson, Chloe Bricker and Kate Hemmer, and doubles teams Grace Crantz and Courtney Burchard and Mylee Shennum and Cat Kaftan have postseason experience, the tandem of Claudia Ucin and Lacy Preeshl, and first-year player Emerald Tinsley will round out Havre's lineup for the postseason.

"Both our boys and girls teams are set now," Ferguson said. "And we have a good mix. We have kids with a ton of experience. They're our leaders. They've been through all this before. And we have some young players and first-year players who have qualified for the divisional team and that's really exciting. So this next three weeks is going to be a lot of fun, and I'm really excited to see how our kids do.

"And that starts with this last road trip of the regular season," Ferguson continued. "The kids have worked hard, they've really been challenged all season. They've improved every day, every week. So now, we need to get on that bus this weekend, and keep going forward, we need to approach this weekend just like we're going to approach the divisional tournament."