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Tigers tie for 4th at SEK meet
PARSONS -- Fort Scott High School's tennis team tied for fourth place with Chanute at the Southeast Kansas League Tennis Tournament here Thursday, led by a third-place finish by its No. 1 doubles team.
Independence reclaimed the crown with 26 points followed by Pittsburg with 19 and defending champion Parsons with 15. Fort Scott and Chanute each had 8 points. Labette County and Coffeyville tied for sixth with 6 points each.
"We knew going into the SEK Tournament this year, that it was going to be a big challenge for us," Fort Scott head coach Lynn Barr said. "It's been a rough year, with very little experience returning, but these guys have hung in and kept grinding and I couldn't be prouder of them with the way they stepped up yesterday at the league tournament."
Davis Drake and Gage Addington, who now have a season record of 15-7 as a due, went into the tournament as the No. 4 seed in No. 1 doubles. They got by the No. 5 seed, Colton Kessler and Josh Mathes of Labette County, 8-6, in their first-round match. In the semifinals, Independence's Gavin Webster and Dylan Waugh, the top-seeded pair, swept, 6-0, 6-0.
In consolation, Drake and Addington beat the No. 6-seeded duo from Chanute, 8-1. In the third-place match, they beat the No. 2 seed, Tyler Beardmore and Kevin Debaud of Parsons, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
"Davis and Gage had played Parsons earlier in the season, with Parsons taking an 8-2 win," Barr said. "This time, Davis and Gage came out determined, playing with a lot of intensity and focus and took control of the match early, building a big lead and taking the first set. The second set was close, but Parsons was able to pull out the win to force a third set.
"Davis and Gage again came out playing very well, controlling the net and controlling the match and built an early lead getting out to a 5-2 lead. Parsons won the next two games, but in the final game Gage and Davis just came out strong and won 4 of the first 5 points played to take the set and the match."
Hayden Barr and Alex Combs were the No. 6 seed in the No. 2 doubles bracket and finished fifth. They lost in the first round to Parsons' Ross Benavides and Andres Jarrett, the No. 3 seed, 8-2. In consolation, they defeated the No. 7 seed, Ben Conn and Wyatt Starnes of Coffeyville, 8-1.
The fourth-seeds, Caleb Webster and Dylan Waugh, took the next match, 8-3. Barr and Combs won the fifth-place match, 8-7 (7-4) over the No. 5 seeds, Ryan Madden and Logan Bennett of Chanute.
"Hayden and Alex had one of their best tournaments of the season," Barr said. "Their two losses came to pretty solid teams. They knew that beating Coffeyville was important for out team score and came out and completely dominated that match.
"Then in the fifth-place match against Chanute, they hung in tough and won a very closely-contested, hard-fought match in a tiebreaker. It was nice to see them step up and play like that in a crucial situation."
Raifen Cruse, seeded sixth, finished fifth in No. 2 singles. He lost in the first round to No. 3 seed Mitchell Reitz of Coffeyville, 8-4. He defeated No. 7 Aaron McCoach, 8-5, in the first round of consolation. Fourth-seeded Lake Lund of Chanute posted an 8-0 win in the next match but Cruse took down fifth-seeded Dequwan Wells of Parsons, 8-4, in the fifth-place match.
"Raifen had a great tournament for us," Barr said. "The highlight of his tournament came in the fifth-place match when, after falling behind 0-3, he won 8 of the next 9 games to come away with the win."
Jesse Guerreo filled the No. 1 singles slot for the Tigers. He was the No. 7 seed and lost both his matches. No. 2 Lane Schicke of Independence won in the first round, 8-0. No. 6 Caleb Mathes of Labette County took an 8-2 win.
"We knew going in that he was going to be in a very difficult position," Barr said. "Although he was beaten in both of his matches, he continued to give us a great effort.
"Jesse has been put in a challenging position this season, and he has done a great job. It's tough knowing that you will almost always be facing one of the opponent's best players with each match, but he has and he hasn't backed down from the challenge and just keeps playing hard and giving us a good effort."
Next for Fort Scott is the Class 4A Regional Tournament, which will be held Thursday and Friday at Independence. The top six finishers in singles and doubles -- one bracket of each in post-season play -- qualify for the State Tournament.
All seven SEK schools will be in the Regional as well as former members Columbus and Iola.
"The Regional Tournament next week will again be a tough challenge," Barr said. "Right now these guys should all be very proud of the effort they gave at the SEK Tournament this season. Not many would have believed we had a chance at a 4th place finish going in, but it was a real team effort that got us there.