By PAUL DELANEY
Staff Reporter
Head coach Justin Blayne didn't get any of his Medical Lake boys' tennis players to state this year, but he may have gotten to see a glimpse of potential future success.
The Cardinals got into the second round in doubles' play, but that was it at the District 7 championships played at Washington State University last Friday and Saturday.
Regular season champion Clarkston ran away with the team title, scoring 54 points. Deer Park was a very distant second with 17 points, while the Cards were sixth with 5 points.
Medical Lake sent seniors Caleb Ruble and Austin Schooner as singles entries and both fell in first-round play. In No. 1 singles, Nihil Sablani of Pullman defeated Ruble 6-4, 6-2 and No. 2 Drew Adams of Clarkston – the tournament's No. 3 seed – topped Schooner 6-0 6-0. “We knew they would have uphill battles,” Blayne said.
“Caleb played his best tennis of the season,” Blayne said. “He's also a senior so to end your career playing your best tennis, although he didn't win I was proud of him. You can walk off the court with your head high knowing, ‘I brought it today.'”
The Cards got more mileage out of their doubles teams as each advanced to the quarter-finals.
Leon Johnson and Blake Andrews were the Cardinals' No. 1 doubles team. “I partnered them up only a week before. They made a fast transition,” Blayne said. “The two played from the No. 3 seed based on the respect they earned from their season-long singles play,” their coach said.
Johnson and Andrews topped Trevor Larsen and Dustin Ayers from Riverside 6-0, 6-1 to open play, but dropped the quarter-finals decision to Cheney's Jace Kessler and Shawn Callahn, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 as the Blackhawks' duo rallied from an opening set loss.
“Leon and Blake, the No. 1 doubles for me and No. 3 in the tournament, played Clarkston's No. 3 entry in the tournament and just had a great three-set match. Won the first one, lost the second one,” Blayne said. “It was back-and-forth. Once again two good teams get together and unfortunately someone has to come out on the bottom.”
Jake Wesselman and Ismael Teshome were Medical Lake's No. 2 doubles entry. “They had a little more doubles experience, but still not all season long like some of the kids they were playing,” Blayne said.
The sophomores topped Connor Haidle and Kevin Hughes of West Valley in the opening round before falling to Derek Young and Nick Van Cleave of Clarkston 6-3, 6-3.
“Jake and Ish, played the No. 1 seed in doubles, hadn't lost a match all year.” They lot 3-6, 3-6, “But they're sophomores and get two more years.” In doubles, Blayne said, all things considered, “We took care of business.”
The Bantams sent two of their three entries on both the singles and doubles' side to this week's state tournament in Seattle. But didn't emerge from the competition unscathed.
The biggest upset of the tournament came when No. 1 seed and undefeated Dustin McConnell of Clarkston fell to Deer Park's Alejandro Canseco 6-0, 6-1. “It's hard to beat someone three times in a row,” Blayne said. “When two good players get together, someone's got to lose.”
Looking at the season as a whole, “We were 6-6 in league, personally a little below expectations,” Blayne said. However, Blayne said he thought the league had more balance than he's seen in many years. “It was a very competitive tennis league this year.”
Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].
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