Belanger win lifts Caribou to final

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The scouting report on Caribou High School tennis player Chelsea Belanger is straight and to the point: She wins the big matches.

With her team knotted at 2-2 in Saturday’s Eastern Maine Class A semifinal match against top-seeded Cony, Belanger’s No. 3 singles match against Jen Lipman came down to a must-win situation.

After splitting the first two sets in tie breakers, Belanger won the decisive third set to seal a 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 victory, giving the defending state champion Vikings a return trip to the regional big school title match.

The fourth-seeded Caribou girls, now 14-0, will face third-seeded Gardiner in a rematch for the state title on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. at the University of Maine in Orono.

In last year’s title match between the Vikings and the Tigers, Belanger clinched the state crown with her 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7-2) win over a Gardiner player.

Belanger’s match and Caribou’s win highlighted a rain-shortened Saturday of semifinal State Team Tennis Tournament playoff action around the state.

The top-seeded Vikings boys also clinched a trip to the regional final by posting a 4-1 win over No. 4 Old Town. Caribou will face second-seeded Cony of Augusta for the title, also at 3 p.m.

Cony defeated Brunswick 3-2 in the other “A” semi.

In Class B action, sixth-seeded Houlton pulled off its second upset of the playoffs with a 5-0 win over second-seeded Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield.

The Shiretowners will face Camden-Rockport for the regional title on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. at Waterville High School. The Windjammers eked out a 3-2 win over Ellsworth to advance.

In the girls division, top-seeded Mount Desert Island shut out Camden-Rockport 5-0 and will face Ellsworth on Wednesday in Waterville. Ellsworth, which has lost to MDI twice this season, beat Dexter in its semifinal on Friday.

Class C action was rained out region-wide.

The Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln-at-Calais girls match was postponed until Tuesday at 4 p.m., with the Woodland-at-Schenck of East Millinocket semifinal postponed until 1 p.m. on Tuesday.

The Penobscot Valley of Howland-at-Calais boys match was also postponed until Tuesday at 11 a.m.

Top-seeded Schenck, a 3-2 Friday winner over Van Buren, waits in the wings.

Western Maine teams also set up regional championship matches.

In Class A action, the South Portland boys beat Lewiston and the Sanford boys beat Cheverus of Portland. Both matches were 3-2. The Lewiston girls, meanwhile, edged Bonny Eagle of Buxton 3-2 while South Portland beat Sanford 5-0.

In the “B” ranks, the boys and girls from Cape Elizabeth and York will meet in the WM finals. The Cape boys beat Kennebunk 4-1 while the Cape girls shut out Kennebunk 5-0. York’s boys squad shut out Mountain Valley of Rumford 5-0 while York’s girls team whitewashed Gorham 5-0.

In Class C, the Yarmouth boys beat St. Dominic of Lewiston 3-2, the Hall-Dale of Hallowell boys beat North Yarmouth 3-2, the St. Dominic girls beat Dirigo of Dixfield 5-0, and Yarmouth stopped Hall-Dale 4-1.

EASTERN MAINE TEAM TENNIS SEMIFINALS CLASS A BOYS At Edmundston, New Brunswick

Caribou (13-0) 4, Old Town (12-2) 1

Singles: Erik Salminen (C) def. Constantine Markides 8-5; Ryan Genz (C) def. Ben Curtis 6-2, 7-5; James Davis (C) def. Brian Grigsby 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6); Doubles: Gerry Swetnam-Laurent Lugbull (C) def. Eric Morrison-Benji Blake 4-6, 6-3, 6-2; Travis Blake-Nathan McLaughlin (OT) def. Seth Hebert-Dale Currier 6-4, 7-5.

At Augusta

Cony 3, Brunswick 2

John Gasink (C) def. Nick Livesay 6-2, 6-2; Seth Meyer (C) def. Jay Cullivan 6-7 (7-9), 6-4, 6-0; Jason Brann (C) def. Daniel Gueorguiev 7-6 (9-7), 6-4; Doubles: Wes McCullough-Chris Goodwin (B) def. Mark Sienko-John Martin 6-1, 4-6, 6-1; Mason Irish-Nick Wilkoff (B) def. Greg Noblet-Rob Chamberlin 7-6 (9-7), 6-4.

GIRLS At Augusta

Caribou (14-0) 3, Cony (11-2) 2

Singles: Anna Chai (Co) def. Anne Bernard 6-1, 6-1; Lise Carter (Car) def. Kathy Blais 6-3, 7-6 (7-3); Chelsea Belanger (Car) def. Jen Lipman 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-3; Doubles: Dawn Johnston-Ellen Konieczko (Co) def. Karen Rockwell-Jenny Hunter 6-3, 6-1; Sheri Dyer-Tiffany Pelletier (Car) def. Yun-Suk Choi-Susan Johnston 6-3, 7-5.

At Brewer

Gardiner (10-1) 4, Brewer (12-2) 1

Singles: Kim Palmer (G) def. Jaime Ferris 0-6, 6-4, 6-2; Sasha Blood (B) def. Tanya Birrenbach 6-2, 6-3; Shannon Gagnon (G) def. Chandra Blood 6-3, 6-0; Doubles: Carolyn Lundquist-Jackie Geis (G) def. Tiffany Trott-Holly Perry 6-0, 6-2; Karen Violette-Jenny Wiles (G) def. Brenda Blaine-Betsy Hatfield 7-5, 6-4.

CLASS B BOYS At Pittsfield

Houlton (9-6) 5, Maine Central Institute (9-4) 0

Singles: Arnaud Deraemaeker (H) def. Ryan Delano 6-1, 6-0; Daniel Sanchez (H) def. Andy Louder 6-2, 6-3; Zach Goodwin (H) def. Brandon Delano 6-0, 6-4; Doubles: Albert Putnam-Jeremy Tweedie (H) def. Tom Ward-Kevin Brown 6-6, retired; Ben Goodwin-Jeff Hanscom (H) def. Eric Love-David Bertrand 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.

At Trenton

Camden-Rockport 3, Ellsworth 2

Singles: Carlos Costa (CR) def. Christian Balmer 6-4, 6-2; Geoff Oldread (CR) def. Ted Buswell 6-0, 6-4; Art Van Sciver (CR) def. Ben Harmon 6-0, 6-3; Doubles: Adrian Gray-Chad Thomas (E) def. Marc Macfarlane-Jay Mitchell 6-1, 1-6, 6-4; Ben McGraw-Nat Eberle (E) def. Sebastian Quinn-Mike Theriault 6-1, 6-0.

GIRLS At Bar Harbor

Mount Desert Island (15-0) 5, Camden-Rockport 0

Singles: Nellie Fox (MDI) def. Erin Spencer 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (11-9); Laura Welles (MDI) def. Joanna Babb 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (12-10); Jill Pelletier (MDI) def. Andrea Babb 6-2, 6-0; Doubles: Sarah Muzzy-Anna Hathaway (MDI) def. Lisa Halverson-Maggie Crass 6-2, 6-2; Martha Ratner-Chafee Emory (MDI) def. Molly Sanford-Martha Sanford 6-2, 6-1.

CLASS C BOYS

Penobscot Valley at Calais, ppd., Tuesday, 11 a.m. GIRLS

Mattanawcook Academy at Calais, ppd., Tuesday, 4 p.m.

Woodland at Schenck, ppd., Tuesday, 1 p.m. (tent.)