Tiger tennis earns second-place finish

PARSONS -- Fort Scott High School's tennis team earned a second-place finish in the Labette County High School Invitational here Tuesday. The Tigers finished four points behind Independence, which had 16 points.

All four Tiger entries went 3-1 in tourney play.

"It was nice to finally get a some good weather to play tennis, warm and not much wind," Fort Scott head coach Lynn Barr said. "We held some players out again today to keep them under their limit on days of competition and I was really proud of the way everyone stepped up today and competed."

Ben Bristley played No. 1 singles, beating Cole Page of LCHS Red and Joel Merritt of LCHS Gold by 8-1 scores and Tyler Jarman of Columbus, 8-2. He lost to Mason Posch of Independence, 8-0.

Kai Simmons-Mims beat Conner Taxson of LCHS Gold, 8-1, and Logan Napier of Columbus, 8-2. He received a victory by default over LCHS Red and lost to Andrew Payne of Independence, 8-4.

Dustin Willard and Gabe Quick played No. 1 doubles and defeated Michael Banowetz/Garret Pierce of LCHS Red, 8-0, Joe Garrett/David Warren of LCHS Gold, 8-5, and Luis Casaras/Nick Thomas of Columbus, 8-7 (7-1). Their loss was to Wes Goodrich/Anthony Davis of Indy, 8-1.

Chris Lamb and Cody Harper teamed up in No. 2 doubles to beat Keanan Smith/Kyle Genton of LC Red, 8-0, Joe Shallington/Brent Heady of LC Gold,8-5, and Nick Holman/Yoseph Lee of Columbus, 8-3. They lost to Austin Schroeder/Issac Hilger of Independence, 8-0.

The Tigers go back to Parsons Friday for another varsity tournament. The junior varsity team will host a dual against Nevada Friday, starting at 4 p.m.