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PORTLAND – The final scores weren’t necessarily indicative of the competitiveness of the matches, but the Mount Desert Island and George Stevens boys tennis teams still had to settle for second-best at Saturday’s state championship matches at the Racket and Fitness Center.
MDI fell to undefeated Falmouth 4-1 in the Class B final, while GSA dropped a 5-0 decision to Waynflete of Portland in the Class C title match.
Lewiston won the Class A crown for the fourth consecutive year with a 4-1 decision over Windham.
MDI (14-2) went into its match a heavy underdog, given that 16-0 Falmouth fielded a singles tandem of three players who reached the state singles Round of 16 – with two reaching the quarterfinals.
“I thought if we were going to win we had to do it with doubles and get a breakthrough in singles,” said MDI coach Bob Christie.
The Yachtsmen backed up those seedings, as top-seeded Chris Morrison and No. 2 Sam Hyland earned straight-set victories over MDI seniors James Little (6-2, 6-1) and Robin Daley (6-1, 6-4) in matches that featured many long rallies.
At third singles, Falmouth’s Charlie Berne beat MDI freshman Noah Bracken 6-2, 6-1.
The Trojans figured to have their best chance at victory in doubles, and got a come-from-behind win from seniors Kevin Staples and Dan Wardman at second doubles. That duo lost the first set to Falmouth’s Dan Hassett and Teddy Piper in a 7-2 tiebreaker, but rallied to win the final two sets 6-3, 6-2.
“When we play our game, we do not make unforced errors,” said Staples. “In the first set we gave them points that were rightfully ours, and that got us down, but in the second and third sets we cut down on those errors and played a more efficient game.”
At first doubles, MDI twins Paul and James Fineman had been undefeated in 37 high school matches, but Falmouth’s Scott Seidel and Jack Wyman changed that, defeating the Finemans 6-3, 6-3.
“We lost twice this season and they weren’t bad losses, and we learned something from them,” said Christie of his team. “It’s disappointing, but they held up their seed in their half of the state really well.”
Waynflete (14-2) earned its second straight state championship in a match that turned in a matter of moments late in the first set of competition at second and third singles.
Second singles player Zach Huckel-Bauer led Waynflete’s Will Garfield 6-5, 30-love but couldn’t hold on as Garfield rallied to break Huckel-Bauer’s serve and then win the first set in a 7-4 tiebreak. Garfield went on to win the second set 6-2.
“He was a really good player and I’ve got to give him props,” said Huckel-Bauer. “He was a really hard hitter, and I think that was really the difference.
While Huckel-Bauer was battling Garfield in their first set, GSA’s Julian Davis took a 3-0 first-set lead at third singles before Waynflete’s Spencer Montgomery came back to eke out the set 7-5. Montgomery then won the second set 6-3 to complete the match.
Sophomore top seed Cooper Mor played a solid second set for George Stevens, but dropped a 6-0, 6-3 baseline battle to Ben Whipple.
“This was as strong a singles group as we’ve had in a while, top to bottom, and I thought it showed out there,” said GSA coach Larry Gray, whose team defeated Waynflete in the 2004 state final.
The Blue Hill-based Eagles (13-3) threatened at second doubles, as Dillon Morris and Seth Brayton split the first two sets before falling to Waynflete’s Dillon Plunkett and Jacob Miller 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-1.
Hillman Norberg and Jack Smith completed the shutout for Waynflete with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Austin Dobson and Dylan Stewart at first doubles.
“It’s really hard for an Eastern Maine team to come down and defeat these teams because we’re still not hitting the ball as hard as they are, and there’s not as much really high-quality tennis being played,” said Huckel-Bauer, a senior. “I feel like it’s getting better though, and next year maybe we’ll come back, but unfortunately I won’t be there.”
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