Fort Scott High School head coach Lynn Barr (far right) will take a pair of double teams with him to the Class 4A State Tennis Tournament in Topeka this weekend. Fort Scott's qualifers are (from left): front -- junior Stephen Buntain and senior Sam Johnson; back -- seniors Corey Chandra and Bryce Hart. [Click to enlarge]

Gathered in Lynn Barr's classroom at Fort Scott Middle School Monday afternoon were Fort Scott High's four state-qualifying tennis players: seniors Bryce Hart, Corey Chandra and Sam Johnson and junior Stephen Buntain.

They and Barr were going over various seeding scenarios for the Class 4A State Tennis Tournament, which will be held at Topeka Hayden High School this weekend. There was more than of bit of speculation and projection involved because the bracket isn't set yet. That will be determined at a coaches' meeting the morning of the tournament.

Hart is going to State for the third straight year. He and Chandra were doubles partners and qualified together last season. Johnson and Buntain are first-time qualifiers but Johnson went to Pratt with the team last year and Buntain has been in state and regional level competitions in shooting (and was profiled in a Sunday Herald-Tribune story for his accomplishments in that sport in November).

So who would they like to see in the first round?

"I'd like to play (the team from) Concordia in the first round," Hart said.

"We'd like to see Larned or Concordia," Johnson said. "We'd have a good chance to get into the top four."

The Tigers have seen a bit of State-calibre competition this season. Both Independence doubles teams qualified from the same regional as the Fort Scott teams. In fact, both the semifinals and the final round were Independence-vs.-Fort Scott matches. The regional champion team from Indy, Andrew Posch and Dan Porter, is undefeated on the season.

Once in the semifinals, both Tiger teams were assured of making State. It was just a matter of what place they would finish in the Regional.

"I wasn't surprised," Buntain said of his feelings when his team clinched State. "Bryce has gone twice so I kind of expected it."

"I knew we needed to get second (in the Regional) to give us a better shot with a lower seed in the first round (of State)," Hart added.

Chandra and Johnson are just as happy to be at State. But they felt a bit different at the time because they had to face Posch and Porter in the semifinal.

"We knew we were going to lose to Posch and Porter so we just had some fun," Johnson said.

"It didn't matter a whole lot, so we didn't care about that match," Chandra said. "But I thought we had a chance to get third but we played (badly)."

Hart said he was drawing from his previous State experiences to prepare for this weekend.

"I just want to play farther than I did last year, for sure," Hart said.

Buntain, since he hasn't qualified before, has a slightly different viewpoint: "I'm going. I'm happy.

"We feel confident. We've faced some of the best players. We kind of know what (the competition's) like."

The Tigers got a bit of a break when the rain let up Monday afternoon and they were able to go hit for a while. Chandra said that if the weather's bad in Topeka when they arrive Thursday, they'll have a chance to practice in an indoor facility (adjacent to the place where the Class 6A tournament will be held).

"I think we're ready right now," Chandra said when asked if they'd be ready just in case Mother Nature decided to call off practice today or Wednesday.

"As coach Barr would say, 'This far into the season, practice isn't going to help you much. It's June, July and August where you get better,'" Johnson said.

And perhaps the work in those months will pay off in May.