Page 65 - Flathead Beacon // 5.25.16

SPORTS
ABOVE Columbia Falls’ Emily Getts competes in the Northwestern A divisional tennis tournament.
RIGHT White sh’s Thomas Carloss competes in the Northwestern A divisional tennis tournament. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
and Columbia Falls (4).
“It’s really exciting. This group has
worked really hard. There’s been a lot more commitment to developing in the o season,” Schwaderer said.
Sophomore Max Smyley set the stan- dard for White sh, cruising through the singles bracket and winning the divisional title over teammate Eric Holdhusen, 6-2, 6-2. Senior Nathan Fauth also advanced to state with a fourth-place nish.
Polson’s Cadis Chowning and Matt Sit- ter claimed the doubles title over team- mates Quaid Harlan and Colin Kenney due to an injury default.
On the girls side, Polson continued its dynastic run with a 10th consecutive divisional title. The Lady Pirates tallied 54 points, followed by White sh (42), Columbia Falls (19) and Stevensville (7).
Polson’s Marlee Congdon captured the divisional title over teammate Mollie Lemm, 7-5, 6-4. Lemm defeated Columbia Falls’ Emily Getts in the semi nals, 7-6 (6), 6-3butGettsralliedbacktowinthethird- place match over White sh’s Lili Szundy, 6-3, 6-2. Both girls advanced to state.
In doubles action, White sh’s Katie Fyall and Anna Peterson defeated team- mates Hannah Madsen and Heather Luedtke in the championship, 6-3, 6-3. Polson’s Cassie Carlyle and Shawna Lenz defeated teammates Olivia Hewston and Kyler Lundeen in the third-place match, 3-5, 6-1, 6-2.
The Billings Central boys and Living- ston girls are the defending Class A state champions.
dtabish@ atheadbeacon.com
STATE TOURNAMENT RESULTS
CLASS AA
Spencer Johnson, a senior at Glacier High School, brought home a runner-up singles trophy from last weekend’s state tournament in Great Falls.
Johnson, a former state champion doubles player, lost to Marcos Zelver of Bozeman in the title match, 6-0, 6-1. Johnson nished his standout season with a 20-3 overall record, going 40-6 in sets.
The Bozeman boys won the team title, Billings Senior placed second and Missoula Hellgate earned third.
On the girls side, Glacier’s doubles team of Maya Buckingham and Anna Cecil advanced to the state semi nal round before dropping to the consolation bracket and eventually losing out. The Wolfpack duo lost in the semis to eventual state champions Katie Veteto and Hannah Warden of Missoula Sentinel.
Flathead’s Ellie Berreth made it to through the consolation bracket before bowing out just before the consolation nal.
The Bozeman girls captured the team trophy, followed by Missoula Hellgate and Billings Senior.
CLASS B/C
The Libby Loggers captured their rst tennis state championship with an impressive multi-day performance in Missoula.
Jason Brandt placed fourth in singles and Jhamaal Sykes took sixth. The doubles team of Erik Lauer and Brayden Thom nished second, falling in the championship 6-4, 6-3 to Conrad’s Cordell Wittmier and Austin Padilla.
En route to the school’s rst tennis title, the Loggers tallied 39 points to beat out Anaconda (21) and Missoula Loyola (19). Bigfork’s doubles team, George Gibson and Ben Russell, took third.
The Libby girls nearly added another championship to the trophy case, too. The Lady Loggers tied for second with Townsend with 21 points apiece. Chinook won the title with 56.
Libby’s Kaylene Hudson placed second, falling 6-2, 6-0 to Lone Peak’s Luisa Locker. Bigfork’s doubles team, Alauna Weilacher and Kaila Wicklund, took fourth.
OCONTINUED FROM BACK PAGE
N THE EVE OF THE NORTH-
western A Divisional tennis tour-
nament, senior Austin Reese and freshman Brendan Buls were paired up as a doubles team for White sh High School. The unlikely duo was seeded third out of three White sh teams entering the tour- nament last week in Kalispell.
It didn’t take long for the teammates to mesh.
“They just went on a tear like I’ve never seen before,” White sh boys coach Chris Schwaderer said.
In a matter of two days, the Reese- Buls duo took down the top team from Stevensville and Columbia Falls and then battled through the consolation bracket after narrowly falling to Polson’s top group. Reese and Buls eventually defeated the No. 2 team from White sh, Ryan Brown/Cole Turgeon, in the third- place match, 6-3, 6-3.
“They were really impressive,” Schwaderer said of Reese and Buls, who advanced to the state tournament along with Brown and Turgeon.
A year after missing out on the divi- sional crown by a mere point, the White- sh Bulldogs rose to the occasion and ensured this year’s title wasn’t going anywhere but home. The boys last week captured their rst divisional champi- onship since 2008. White sh will send seven players to this week’s Class A state tournament in Bozeman and Livingston, May 26-27. White sh tallied 60 points, followed by Polson (43), Stevensville (9)
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