Bulldogs battle at state

BOISE — Micah Buckmiller and Alex Hon went 2-1 in boys doubles, and Megan Rockwell and Kennedy Search 2-1 in girls doubles to lead Sandpoint on day one of the 4A state tennis tournament Friday in Boise.

Hon and Buckmiller beat Columbia 6-3, 6-2 in the opener, then lost 6-3, 6-2 to Wood River, before beating Century 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 to remain alive in the consolation bracket.

“They were just a couple unforced errors away from beating Wood River,” said Bulldogs head coach Kent Anderson. “They bounced back and redeemed themselves in a three-set marathon.”

Rockwell and Search beat Minico 6-1, 6-1, lost to Caldwell 6-4, 7-5 and then beat Mountain Home 6-1, 6-1 in consolation.

“They started slow in their 2nd round match and couldn’t quite recover,” said Anderson. “They’ll be playing in the consolation quarterfinals Saturday and hoping for a 3rd place finish overall.”

Senior Bailey Scrimsher lost 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 to Kuna and 6-3, 6-1 to Century in girls singles, and was eliminated in the double elimination format.

Nicolette Jessen and Carson Nygren opened with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Blackfoot, before losing 6-3, 6-3 to Burley and 6-2, 6-3 to Columbia to end their tournament in mixed doubles.

Collin Jurenka and Katie Mares lost 6-0, 6-3 to Bonneville, then  beat Burley 6-3, 6-3, before being eliminated 6-2, 6-3 by Columbia.

Buckmiller, Hon, Rockwell and Search wrap up the tournament today.