Tigers finish interrupted tourney

INDEPENDENCE -- Fort Scott High School's tennis team completed a tournament Wednesday that was suspended due to rain here March 29. The Tigers finished up in third place behind winner Independence and runner-up Arkansas City.

All of the players had played Arkansas City and Fort Scott's singles players has just finished with their opponents from Independence when the rain came. The Tigers finished 0-8 against the Ark City and Indy players but went a combined 7-1 versus Parsons and Labette County.

Indy's Andrew Posch and Dan Porter defeated Bryce Hart and Stephen Buntain 8-3 in No. 1 doubles. Sam Schroeder and Adam Greenhaw took an 8-6 win over Corey Chandra and Sam Johnson in No. 2 doubles. Both matches resumed at a point where the Indy players only needed to win a couple of points to win the match.

"It was difficult to come out and have no margin for error in those two matches with only a couple of points left to decide the outcome," Fort Scott head coach Lynn Barr said.

Bret Heiser, 3-7 this season, took a pair of wins in No. 1 singles. he beat Jake Brenneman of Parsons, 8-1, and Dane Riley of LCHS, 8- 7 (7- 2). Dustin Willard, 2- 6, lost to Jason Alexander of Parsons, 8-0, but defeated Travis Wells of LCHS, 8-7 (7-2).

Hart/Buntain, 9-3, beat Parsons' Eric Mosier/Matt Mason, 8- 2, and LC's Bret Eckelberry/ Jesse Muller, 8- 3. Chandra/Johnson shut out Parsons' Kyle Dick/ Austin Clift and won 8-1 over LC's David Warren/Joe Garrett.

"Both doubles teams continued to play well and were dominant in their remaining matches," Barr noted. "When these teams stay aggressive and dictate the tempo of the match, they can be very effective teams."

The Tigers play in the Thomas Jefferson Invitational Friday and host their own tournament Saturday.