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Tiger duo takes second at 4A State
TOPEKA -- Fort Scott High School's Bryce Hart and Stephen Buntain took second place in doubles at the Class 4A State Tennis Tournament Saturday.
In a replay of both the Southeast Kansas League Tournament championship match and the Independence Class 4A Regional finals, Andrew Posch and Dan Porter of Independence defeated Hart and Buntain in the State final on Saturday, 6-0, 6-1.
Posch, who was half of a State champion doubles team last year, and Porter finished the season undefeated in almost 30 matches, so to be runner-up to that duo is still very special.
"Unfortunately, the outcome of our fifth meeting (of the year) with Indy was much like the previous four," Fort Scott head coach Lynn Barr said. "But having an all-SEK championship match was really fun for both teams and all the parents and fans that were there from both Fort Scott and Independence."
Indy also won the team title with 37 points, successfully defending it's 2006 title as its other doubles finished sixth and one of its singles players finished second. DeSoto was third with 21 points followed by Topeka Hayden with 20, Marysville 17 and Fort Scott with 16.
Hart and Buntain, who finished the season with a record of 21-9, defeated Frank Deal and Luke Miranda of Concordia in the first round on Friday, 7-5, 6-3, 6-0.
"We didn't start out very well," Barr said. "I think it was a case of some early-tournament nerves. But once they got past that first set, they really settled in, played their game and took control of the match."
Meanwhile, Posch/Porter beat Wilson/Pettersen of Andover Central, 6-2, 6-1.
In Friday's quarterfinal round, Hart and Buntain beat Ethan Decker and Luke Snyder of Larned, 6-3, 7-5. Posch and Porter advanced with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Sandstrom/Baker of Marysville.
"In the second set, Larned came out and played some great tennis," Barr said. "They weren't missing and went up 5-1 in the second set. Bryce and Stephen showed a lot of poise and never panicked but just kept playing their game."
The semifinals Saturday morning saw Hart and Buntain beat Cody Martinek and Joe Flynn of Topeka Hayden 6-4, 6-3. In the other semifinal, Posch and Porter needed three games to get by Edwards/Hoschouer of DeSoto, 6-0, 6-3.
"This was a match-up of two very evenly-matched teams," Barr said. "The Hayden team was very good and played excellent doubles. It was close throughout but Bryce and Stephen came up with some big points when they needed them and pulled out the win over an excellent team on their home court."
Martinek and Flynn went on to beat Edwards and Hoschouer for third place, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.
Sam Johnson and Corey Chandra, 23-12 on the season, were hoping maybe there could be an all-Fort Scott/Indy pair of semifinals. But those were dashed in the first round by Davin Anaya and Denton Coltrane of Andover, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 in Friday's first round.
"Sam and Corey were disappointed with the outcome of this match because they felt like if they would have played better, they could have won," Barr said. "It was closer than the score indicated.
"I think some first-round nerves got in the way but they struggled with returning serve in this match."
Johnson and Chandra advanced in consolation by beating Corey Rizzo and Alex Beugelsidisck of Buhler, 6-4, 6-3.
"They settled in and played their game," Barr said. "They played some solid tennis in this match."
Independence's Sam Schroeder and Adam Greenhaw defeated Johnson and Chandra, 9-7, in the last match of Friday's play. Because the state plays out to nine places, Johnson and Chandra still had a chance to medal even though this was their second loss of the tournament.
"This was very close through the whole match with both teams playing some excellent tennis," Barr noted. "Unfortunately the result was the same as it's been in previous meetings with Indy pulling it out in the end."
Schroeder and Greenhaw went on to take sixth place with a 9-6 loss to Anaya-Coltrane in the fifth-place match.
Johnson and Chandra were scheduled to play Larned's Deckert/Snyder in their first match on Saturday, but Larned chose not to play Saturday after losing on Friday.
In the ninth-place match, Johnson/Chandra was defeated by Andover Central's Tucker Noyes and Neal Rasmussen, 9-6.
"I think playing in the earlier round Saturday hurt us," Barr said, "since we had been sitting around all morning and didn't get a chance to play until noon."