Two runner-up performances carried Hillsboro?s varsity tennis team to a third-place finish at the Hillsboro Invitational Thurs?day at the Sports Complex.
The tournament included eight teams from six schools.
Conway Springs won the team title with 56 points, followed by Smoky Valley (51), Hillsboro (50), Hutch Trinity 1 (49), Chapman and Hutch Trinity 2 (25), Circle (9) and Hillsboro 2 (0).
Hillsboro?s No. 1 singles and doubles entries placed second in their respective brackets.
In singles, Grant Shewey lost in a tiebreaker to Kyle Burger of Conway Springs in the championship match, 8-7 (7-1). To get there, Shewey defeated Brian Kessler of Circle, 8-1, and Teddy Smith of Smoky Valley, 8-5.
In doubles, Taylor Hagen and Jarod Hamm lost to Banning and Lindt from Hutch Trinity, 8-5, in the title showdown. The Trojan duo defeated Reimer and Gion from Hutch Trinity 2, 8-5, and Keating and Luerding of Chapman, 8-4, to reach the finals.
In No. 2 singles, Hillsboro?s Sam Bookless placed fourth, defeating Junior Skeen of Chapman (8-4) before losing to Connor Chambers of Smoky Valley (8-2) and Alex Reyes of Hutch Trinity (8-3).
In No. 2 doubles, Jesse Allen and Harry Faber placed fifth, losing to Ohl and Thibault of Hutch Trinity (8-3), then defeating Jeff Pritchard and Josh Wiebe from Hillsboro 2 (8-3) and Roman and Yackey of Hutch Trinity 2 (8-3).
For Hillsboro 2, Pritchard and Wiebe went 0-3 for the day, as did Daniel Gray and Jonathan King in No. 1 doubles and Tyler Funk in No. 2 singles.
?Our top three players continued to have a good season,? coach Stuart Holmes said. ?Though both of our No. 1?s lost in the finals, they were both good competitive matches with a few points difference, and overall for the day they played some good tennis.?
Smoky Valley?The Hillsboro tennis team found the going tough at the Smoky Valley Invitational last Tuesday in Lindsborg with no Trojan entry finishing better than sixth.
The format for both singles and doubles was one 16-entry bracket.
In singles, Grant Shewey went 2-2 for seventh place, defeating Jacob Whitsen of Pratt 8-4, losing to Ryan Yenni of Smoky Valley 8-4 and Troy Gurney of Wichita Collegiate 8-4 before defeating Alex Harris of Abilene 8-5 for seventh place.
Sam Bookless went 0-3, losing to Conner Chambers of Smoky Valley 8-1, Ryan Oehmke of Collegiate 8-2 and Brandon Whited of Pratt 8-1.
In doubles, Taylor Hagen and Jarod Hamm went 2-2, defeating Atnip/Bailey of Collegiate 8-0, losing to Jansen/Redding of Hesston 8-5, defeating Marlow/Guccione of Abilene 8-7 (7-3) and losing to Howard-Talbott/Reed 8-3 to finish sixth.
Jesse Allen and Harry Faber were 2-2, losing to Dalston and Dahlsten of Hesston 8-4 and VanRanken/Suppes of Smoky Valley 8-7 (9-7) before defeating Morgan/Malsuit of Concordia 8-3 and Hullman/Mayberry of Pratt 8-2.
Coming?Hillsboro will compete Thursday at the Circle Invitational, then will host its second tournament of the season, the Trojan Invitational, the following Tuesday, April 20. Both events begin at 3 p.m.
