ELIZABETHTOWN — East Bladen juniors Jay McGill and Jake Evans were a game and a set away from a championship.
Then came a tall order. Specifically, the height advantage of their opponent.
McGill and Evans fought through the fatigue of two days of Three Rivers Conference tennis tournament play Tuesday, finally falling to Whiteville’s Tanner Hester-Tyler Floyd 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 in the final. They were one of two doubles teams from the host school to earn a trip to the regionals in Graham, while West Bladen earned a spot from singles.
“We got frustrated two matches before the championship,” McGill said. “We said we’re not getting mad, and we’re going to make the championship.”
That they did, and once there rolled from a 2-0 deficit in the first set to lead 5-2. Hester, one of the league’s tallest players, then changed his game a bit.
“They had the height advantage,” Evans said.
And with Hester going big for a number of shots and the Wolfpack duo playing angles with aplomb, the match started to go south for McGill-Evans. They lost the first set tie-breaker, then were dealt service breaks in the second and fourth games of the second set, followed by a long game in which Floyd managed to hold service for a 4-1 lead.
“We tried to keep it away from the person at the net,” Evans said.
Such was a tall task, literally.
The Eagles finished 12-4 in the regular season, both in Three Rivers play and overall, and are awaiting word on inclusion to the state dual team playoffs. They’re on the bubble. Whiteville is guaranteed in, having rolled through 16-0 in the league.
The individual state tournament, which essentially begins with league tournaments that help determine seeds, is like a new season anyway, the East Bladen pair said.
“It’s one of the most fun parts of the season,” McGill said. “You can still make something happen here.”
McGill-Evans, seeded second, defeated Whiteville’s Bryce Kronnenwetter-Evan Wright 7-5, 5-7, 6-1 earlier in day during the semifinals. The duo was a 6-1, 6-2 victor over Anthony Hyatt-Ethan Gromme of Red Springs in the quarterfinal, and began the event with a bye.
East Bladen sophomore Jackson Bostic-sophomore Will Hester took third place in doubles to punch a ticket to Graham. The duo fell to Hester-Floyd 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinals after winning earlier matches 6-0, 6-3 over West Bladen’s junior Logan Lewis-senior Victor Arellano in the quarterfinals, and 6-2, 6-4 over South Columbus’ Peyton Blosser-Drew Wright in the opening round.
In singles, Whiteville’s Bridger Warlick beat teammate Andrew Cahn 6-2, 6-3 for the championship.
West Bladen senior Jose Hernandez Osorio finished third to earn a regional spot, winning the consolation match 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 over Jose Alejandro of Red Springs. Osorio fell against Cahn 6-0, 6-3 in the semifinals after an earlier win of 6-3, 6-3 over South Columbus’ Juan Frank and a first-round bye.
“We did really well,” said East Bladen head coach Terry Smith. “We’re sending two teams to the regionals. Last year, we had just one singles player.”
He was proud, he said, that the two best doubles teams in the league competed for the championship. Matches were close and he praised the Whiteville pair as “really good. They play well together. They hit with a purpose.”
Before falling to Bostic-Hester, Lewis-Arellano won their opening match 6-2, 6-2 over St. Pauls’ David Estrada-Jose Garcia.
West Bladen senior Eduardo Carranza won his opener 7-5, 6-1 over junior Colin Hill of East Bladen, then fell to Cahn 6-0, 6-1.
East Bladen sophomore Garrett Melvin lost his opener 7-5, 6-2 to Red Springs’ Alejandro.
West Bladen junior Tristen Sadler-senior Mark Flores lost an opening match 6-0, 6-1 to South Columbus’ Drake Bracey-Evan Cribb.
East Bladen’s Jay McGill makes a return as he and partner Jake Evans take on Whiteville’s Tanner Hester-Tyler Floyd in the Three Rivers Conference doubles championship.
East Bladen’s Jake Evans returns a shot during the Three Rivers Conference doubles championship. Evans and Jay McGill were defeated by Tanner Hester-Tyler Floyd of Whiteville.
East Bladen’s Jay McGill makes a return as he and partner Jake Evans take on Whiteville’s Tanner Hester-Tyler Floyd in the Three Rivers Conference doubles championship.