Tigers third at SEK behind strong doubles performances

INDEPENDENCE -- Fort Scott High School's doubles team finished second in their respective brackets as the Tigers took third place at the Southeast Kansas League Tennis Tournament here Thursday.

The Tigers scored 20 points as both doubles teams scored seven points each.

Independence won its seventh consecutive title and 25th all-time, the first one coming in 1974. Iola placed second.

"We had a good tournament and I was really proud of how hard we competed," Fort Scott head coach Lynn Barr said. "We hoped to edge out Iola for second but we just couldn't come up with a couple of key wins and they did."

Bryce Hart and Stephen Buntain, 16-6 on the season, took second in the No. 1 bracket. The defeated Eric Mosier/Matt Mason of Parsons, 6-1, 6-1, in the first round. In the semifinals, they defeated Kevin Wilson/Austin Thompson of Coffeyville, 6-1, 7-5.

In the finals, they were swept, 6-0, 6-0, by Independence's Austin Posch and Dan Porter, who are unbeaten this year in 22 matches. Posch was part of the No. 1 doubles champion team last year with Tyler Smith.

"Overall, (Hart and Buntain) has a great tournament," Barr said. "Independence was just too good in the finals. It was easy to see why they're undefeated. They are one of the top teams in the state."

Corey Chandra and Sam Johnson, 19-7, were the Tigers' No. 2 doubles team. They opened with a 6-2, 6-2 sweep of Matt Willis/Matt Strutt of Chanute. Next was a three-set match with Bret Eckelberry/Jesse Mueller of Labette County, which the Fort Scott pair won, 6-7 (2-7), 6-1, 7-5. In the finals, they were beaten by Indy's Sam Schroeder and Adam Greenhaw, who are 17-3 this season, by scores of 2-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-1.

"Sam and Corey started out with a good match against Chanute," Barr said. "But they were taken completely out of the way they should play against LCHS.

"In the final, Indy came out very quick in the first set but we battled back and got the second set tiebreaker. I think Sam and Corey will be much more ready for what other teams may throw at them next week at the Regional Tournament."

Bret Heiser, 10-11, played No. 1 singles and finished in fourth place. He defeated Mark Bachman of Coffeyville, 6-4, 6-4, then dropped to consolation with a 6-0, 6-1 loss to eventual champion Zach Willis of Independence. In consolation, Heiser took an 8-2 win over Trace Redburn of Chanute and lost the third-place match to Cody Hamblin of Pittsburg, 6-1, 6-0.

"Bret had a solid tournament," Barr said. "He had another win over Bachman, which gave him two wins in their last two meetings after dropping the first one. Bret also played very well against Chanute. He played some good tennis in his two losses but both came to good quality players who were just the better players today and that happens."

Trent McDermed, 4-11, played No. 2 singles, but lost all three matches. He lost to Heath Bozman of Coffeyville, 6-1, 7-5, Travis Wells of Labette County, 8-2, and Jason Alexander of Parsons, 8-7 (9-7).

"Trent battled and played some good tennis today," Barr said. "He came back strong in the second set of his first match and then had a really close match against Parsons. Trent always plays hard and gives us great effort in his matches."

Kent Toland of Iola went on to win the No. 2 singles title with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Omar Eshelbassy of Independence in the finals.

The Tigers return here next Thursday for the Independence Class 4A Regional Tournament. The tourney will be essentially a repeat of the SEK tournament as all nine teams assigned are from the SEK.