December 23, 2024
SCHOOLBOY TENNIS

George Stevens, Camden Hills, Lewiston win

WATERVILLE – Three was the operative number at Wednesday afternoon’s Eastern Maine boys team tennis championships at Colby College.

Three in a row, three-peat, third time’s the charm – they all applied.

The George Stevens Academy Eagles of Blue Hill won their third straight Class C regional title with a 3-2 win over northern Maine power Madawaska, and the Camden Hills boys took their third straight East B crown with a thoroughly commanding 5-0 win over Mount Desert Island.

In Class A, the top-seeded, 14-0 Lewiston boys stayed that way, but not before squeaking by the No. 3 Bangor Rams 3-2 in a match that came down to the No. 1 doubles match.

The top-seeded Eagles will put their 15-0 mark up against Western C champ Waynflete of Portland in a 9 a.m. match Saturday at Bates College in Lewiston. The “B” state match will follow at noon as the top-seeded Camden Hills Windjammers (14-1) play Cape Elizabeth (15-0) in a rematch of last year’s state final. The “A” state final will pit the Blue Devils against Westbrook or Biddeford at 3 p.m.

The Class C contest came down to the second doubles teams. It didn’t look rosy for the Eagles early when No. 2 Madawaska’s duo of Michael Arnold and Matt Bosse won the first set 6-2 after surprising the GSA boys.

“They played both guys on the baseline and I don’t think we reacted to that well for a long time,” said GSA coach Larry Gray. “We tried to hit it by them rather than angle it to where they couldn’t get it.”

That changed gradually in the second set as Brad Dunham and Colin Tareila worked the court from side to side.

“After the first set, when they were hitting lots of great lobs and using good backhand shots, we just tried to keep it to their forehand sides and come to the net more,” said Tareila.

The Eagles pulled out the second set 6-4 and made their team and fans sweat through another nail-biter before winning the third 6-4 as well.

“We knew we had to get it together for the team and we did,” Dunham said. “We had to start using the court more and paint the lines. That was all it was, but it took awhile to do it.”

In Class B, Camden Hills made it look easy against a solid opponent by winning 61 of 84 games.

“I think some of us may have played better at times, but maybe as far as all of us together at one time, this is as good as we’ve played, I think,” said Brandon Scamfer, one of two seniors on the team and the only player on the team who has been on the team for all four East regional final appearances (Camden lost in 2001).

Scamfer and classmate Evan Dyer beat MDI’s Lucas Mickelson and Robin Daley 6-1, 6-4 in the No. 1 doubles match.

“Our goal from the start of the season on was to get to this point and meet Cape again in the states,” Scamfer said. “We really want to win this and we’re ready for it.”

In Class A, doubles again proved the pivotal part of the match as No. 1 duo Mike Sarazin and James Morin of Lewiston got off to a strong start and repulsed a spirited comeback by Bangor’s Justin Turcotte and Brian Tomasetti with a 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) victory.

Turcotte and Tomasettie were clearly unsettled after an official called a few foot faults on their serves after Lewiston coach Anita Murphy asked for someone to monitor them.

“That definitely rattled them, but as a player you’ve got to learn to get above that,” said Cindy Howard, whose Rams finished the season at 13-2.


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