Hillsboro tennis 5th at league tourney

Written by Don Ratzlaff Tuesday, 01 May 2012 15:24

Harry Faber of Hillsboro returns the ball during the Central Kansas League tournament Monday. Faber was second in No. 2 singles.

Led by their success in singles, the Hillsboro Trojans placed fifth among seven teams at the Central Kansas League tennis tournament Monday.

No. 1 singles player Grant Shewey placed third while Harry Faber was the runner-up at No. 2.

Shewey defeated Nick Meng of Kingman 6-1, 6-2 in the opening round, then lost to Keegan LeFevre of Hesston in the semifinals before rebounding with an easy 6-1, 6-0 win over Thomas Mayberry of Pratt in the third-place match.

Faber reached the finals by blanking Tyler Garrison of Kingman, 6-0, 6-0 in the first round and defeating Liam Kah­meyer of Pratt 6-1, 6-4 in the semifinals. Collin Martin of Hesston claimed the title with a 6-1, 6-1 victory.

In No. 1 doubles, Daniel Gray and Jeff Pritchard placed fifth. They lost to Hostetler and Hull­man of Pratt 6-4, 6-3, advanced in consolation play on a bye, then defeated Leroux and Clark of Kingman 9-3.

In No. 2 doubles, Ty Carey and Tyler Funk lost to Foreman and Schotte of Pratt 6-0, 6-0, advanced on a bye but then lost to Coon and Roe of Kingman 9-3 to place sixth.

Hesston edged Sterling for the team title, 52 to 50. They were followed by Smoky Valley (34), Pratt (32), Hillsboro (30), King­man (12) and Haven (0).

Hesston—Grant Shewey placed fourth in singles to pace Hillsboro at the Hesston Invita­tional April 24. The tournament featured a single bracket for both singles and doubles.

Shewey went 2-2 for the day, defeating Jacob Penner of Hess­ton 8-4 in his opening match and Ross Mussen of Conway Springs 8-3 in the quarterfinals before losing to Keegan LeFevre and Collin Martin, both of Hesston and both by 8-1 scores.

“Grant has now medaled for six meets in a row this year, and I’m sure is looking forward to some great competition at league and regionals,” coach Stuart Holmes said. “He’s been playing well and has won nine of his last 13 matches.”

Harry Faber went 3-2 in singles to finish seventh. He defeated J.D. Tyler of Buhler 8-2 and Eric Banning of Hutchinson Trinity 8-5 before losing 8-3 to Martin of Hesston and Garrett Prill­man of Conway Springs.

He came back to beat Dylan Stoss of McPher­son in the seventh-place match, 8-5.

“Harry was very competitive in all his matches throughout a long day of playing five matches in the heat,” Holmes said. “Harry played great tennis, especially in his match versus Ban­ning, who was seeded fourth.”

Hillsboro’s doubles team of Daniel Gray and Jeff Pritchard went 2-3 to place 15th in doubles. They opened with an 8-7 (7-5) win over Williams and Martin-Chavez of McPherson, then lost to Smith and Pihl of Smoky Valley 8-0, Ast and Rasmussen of Conway Springs 8-1 and Liebl and Lamatsch of Central Plains 8-5 before beating Schneider and Crowther of Smoky Valley 8-3.

“Out of their last nine matches, these guys have won five, which is a sign that they are getting more and more competitive against the outstanding competition that we’ve seen,” Holmes said.

Ty Carey and Tyler Funk lost all four of their matches to place 21st among 21 teams: 8-4 to Schneider and Crowther, 8-1 to Carrigan and Pavetto of Wichita Collegiate, 8-2 to Clark and Richter of McPherson and 8-3 to Maine and Brunson of Wichita Trinity.

Coming—Hillsboro was scheduled to compete Monday at the Central Kansas League tournament at the Sports Complex.

HHS will host the regional tournament Friday for a chance to earn berths at the Class 3A state tournament. Also in the field are Anthony-Harper-Chaparral, Conway Springs, Douglass, Hutch Trinity, Neo­desha and Wichita Independent.