Buntain, Harrison team up for 2nd-place finish

INDEPENDENCE -- Fort Scott High's No. 1 doubles team of Michelle Buntain and Corina Harrison finished in second place at the Independence Invitational here Tuesday.

Three teams finished with 2-2 record but Buntain and Harrison won more games, 25, compared to 22 for Labette County and Neodesha's entries.

Buntain and Harrison (10-5 on the season) defeated LC's Kelsey Eckelberry/ Paige Wells, 8-4, in their first match. They lost to Ashlee Carr and Kelby McGrath of Independence, 8-2, and Neodesha's Jackie Newland/Carlota Cores, 8-7 (9-7). In their final match, they beat Parsons' Brea Harris/Jennifer Nickelson, 8-5.

"Michelle and Corina were also just a little off their games today," Fort Scott head coach Lynn Barr said. "They needed to play a little more aggressively at times and go out and win points rather than wait for the other team to lose them. We missed out on several opportunities to end points and end games by not being aggressive and often it came back to hurt us later. They are playing pretty well, but just need to start trying to take their game to the next level a little more."

Kalia Dancy and Courtney Crain were paired together for the first time and were placed fourth after tie-breakers after finishing 2-2.

Dancy and Crain beat LC's Lora Nance and Kelsey Baker, 8-6, lost to Kelsey Porter/Tyra Welck of Independence, 8-0, and Neodesha's Jackie Arnold/Anabelle Howard, 8-6, and finished with an 8-3 win over Parsons' Balie Foster/Kelsey Jump.

Taylor Bailey (4-12) was 1-3 in No. 1 singles. Her only victory was an 8-6 squeaker past Kami Noeller of Neodesha. She lost to Lakyn Baughman of LCHS 8-2, Lexi Dent of Independence 8-1 and Malina Kipp of Parsons 8-0.

Heather Hobbs saw her first singles action of the season and was 1-3 in No. 2 singles. She beat LCHS' Elyse Merritt in a tie-breaker 8-7 (7-1), lost to Indy's Taylor Mason and Neodesha's Alyssa Schurle by 8-4 scores and to Parsons' Bree Rogers 8-3.

The Tigers host a four-team tournament scheduled for a 3 p.m. start on Tuesday.

CORRECTION -- In the summary of the junior varsity matches that ran in Wednesday's edition, it was reported Pittsburg finished in second place. Parsons actually finished second. The Tribune regrets the error.