Published Thursday, May 08, 2008 1:33 PM
Updated Thursday, May 08, 2008 1:34 PM

 

Panthers fall in state finals

The Pinewood boys’ tennis team staged a miracle comeback last year in the state finals but there was no such luck this year.

After falling behind in the singles play last year 4-2, the Panthers rallied to win all three doubles matches and capture the state championship. After Tuesday’s singles matches, the Panthers found themselves in a similar situation against Hilton Head Prep. Trailing, 4-2 again, the Panthers were looking for their second miracle, but it wasn’t to happen as the Dolphins won two of the three doubles matches to defeat the Panthers 6-3.

Early on, the match went pretty much as Pinewood coach Heinz Maurer expected.

“Their No. 1 and 2 players are excellent and I knew we would have a hard time against them,” he said. “They are young, but very good, and if they continue to progress they will both probably play at division one schools in college.”

Playing in the No. 1 spot for the Dolphins, Nicky Kunz dispatched Pinewood’s Josh Klingenberg 6-2, 6-1 and Mo Hookaylo defeated Panther Scott Hayes 6-1, 6-2 at No. 2.  Maurer knew that the Panthers need to split the singles, but even after dropping the first two matches he felt fairly confident.

“We have a little more depth than they do so I knew we could do well in the lower singles,” he said.  Well is what the Panthers did as Adam Elliget, playing at the No. 5 spot, defeated Franklyn Bakala 6-1, 6-3 and William Wert, playing at No. 6, won his match over Jarrett Nixon 6-0, 6-1. That left the two middle matches to be decided.

In the No. 3 spot, Jacob Cumbie put up a terrific fight, but ultimately fell to Hunter Mitchell 6-3, 6-4. It was at the No. 4 spot that Maurer had hopes of splitting the singles.  JT Elliget dropped the first set but rebounded to take the second set off of the Dolphins’ Joey Ryan, setting up a deciding tiebreaker.

After splitting the first four points, Elliget ran off six straight to give himself an 8-2 lead and things looked good for the Panthers, but Ryan rallied to win seven of the next eight to even the tie break at 9. After trading points, Ryan won the final two to capture the tiebreak 12-10 and give the Dolphins an almost insurmountable lead of 4-2.

As expected, the Dolphins No. 1 doubles team of Kunz and Hookaylo defeated Klingenberg and Ladson Fishburne 6-2, 6-2 for the deciding fifth point. Mitchell and Ryan defeated JT Elliget and Cumbie 6-1, 3-2, but Adam Elliget and Scott Hayes were able to win the final doubles 6-3, 6-3. With the win, Adam Elliget completed an undefeated season in both singles and doubles.

In girls’ soccer, the Panthers dropped a close 4-3 decision to Hammond in overtime on Tuesday evening. The Panthers rallied to tie three times but were unable to ever gain a lead. Kimrey Angotti Smith and Courtney Angotti Smith scored early for the Panthers.  Megan Fish scored with about 10 minutes remaining in regulation off a beautiful header after receiving a cross from Courtney Angotti Smith.

Smith took the ball down the left sideline and lofted a perfect pass to Fish who was left unguarded about 15 yards from the goal where she deftly directed the ball into the upper corner to knot the game at 3.  In the overtime, the Panthers seemed to run out of steam as the Skyhawks dominated the first 8 minutes and were able to score on a scramble in front of the Panthers’ net.  The Panthers did get several more good chances late in the second overtime, but were unable to cash in. The loss ends the Panthers’ season with a record of 16-3.