The Kamiak High School boys tennis team was nearly unbeatable this season on its way to a 14-1 record and first Wesco 4A title since 2014.
The Knights continued their regular-season success at the Class 4A District 1 tennis tournament last week.
Led by district doubles champions Aaron Lee and Josh Lee, Kamiak edged league power Jackson 18-16 to claim the district team title.
“Our group this year, we had a lot of great senior leadership,” Knights coach Jeff Gilbert said. “Aaron and Josh were definitely the guys, but I think on the varsity we had seven or eight guys that were seniors. So it was a very senior-laden group and they kind of knew what to do. I’m just really proud of how they went about doing this.”
Top-seeded seniors Aaron Lee and Josh Lee, who were standout singles players for Kamiak throughout the regular season, cruised to a doubles title while dropping just five sets over their three matches, including a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Lake Stevens’ Max Hein and Dillon Wells in the championship clash.
“They’re great students and phenomenal teammates,” Gilbert said of his senior tandem. “I’m really, really excited to see what they’re going to do at state because they were pretty dominant during the district tournament.”
Jackson freshman Ben Lee, seeded second, dropped only one set between his quarterfinal and semifinal victories before knocking off top-seeded teammate Henry Park 6-1, 6-4 to claim the 4A district singles title in an all-Jackson clash.
Park, a sophomore, rebounded from his championship loss for a 6-0, 6-0 win over Kamiak senior Muhammad Putra in the second-place match two days later. Putra finished third.
Glacier Peak junior Jason Yee and senior Jackson Stumpf, the No. 3 seed, outlasted second-seeded Hein and Wells 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the second-place doubles match.
In the 3A District 1 tournament Wednesday, Edmonds-Woodway’s Steven Anderson took home the singles crown after defeating Oak Harbor’s Ezra Franklin, the No. 3 seed, in the title match. Anderson, seeded fifth, beat top-seeded Cade Strickland and fourth-seeded Will MacDonald, both of Snohomish, on his way to the finals. Franklin finished second.
Edmonds-Woodway’s Russell Anderson defeated MacDonald in the third-place match and Strickland beat Shorecrest Zaid Khan to finish fifth.
Shorewood’s Ethan Farley and Blake Gettmann, seeded-second, beat fifth-seeded teammates David Lin and Ben Borgida to caputure the 3A doubles titles.
Shorecrest’s Calvin Rice and Owen Pierce topped Mount Vernon’s Milo Gasser and Cody Schackelton in the third-place match. Everett’s Daniel Woodard and Grant Mueller bested Stanwood’s Brandt Giblertson and Blake Reid in the fifth-place contest.
The Thunderbirds won the team title thanks to their one-two finish in doubles. Edmonds-Woodway finished second.
Allocations for the boys tennis state tournaments will be determined in the spring. Boys tennis is a spring sport played in the fall as an alternative season by District 1 schools. The 4A state tournament is scheduled for May 27-28 at Kamiakin High School and Tri-City Court Club in Kennewick. The 3A state tournament is set for the same dates at Hanford High School and Columbia Basin Racquet Club in Richland.
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