SHS tennis ties CDA, falls just short to Lewiston in opener

COEUR d'ALENE — The Sandpoint tennis team opened its season Saturday with a pair of tightly-contested matches against Coeur d'Alene and Lewiston.

The Bulldogs opened the day with a battle against the Vikings and tied them 6-6 in a 10-game pro set style match. Lewiston prevailed 7-5 over Sandpoint to close out the opener for all three schools.

Head coach Kent Anderson said his group gave the 5A schools everything they could handle.

"It was a great day," he said. "It's really amazing how evenly matched all three teams are. Everyone played really well."

The Bulldogs had a strong showing at boys doubles as No. 1 pairing Charlie Johnson and Tyler McNamee, and No. 2 pairing Tyler Korn and Carter Johnson swept their matches against Lewiston and Coeur d'Alene.

Anderson said Korn and Carter Johnson were really impressive.

"They literally overpower their opponents," he said. "They have the ability to dismantle opponents with untouchable, massive serves."

Freshman Maise Brazill showed no signs of nerves in her varsity debut, claiming a pair of victories at the No. 3 singles spot for the girls.

Brazill played to the level of her nickname, "Never Miss Maise."

"She has a way of getting the center of her strings on every ball coming at her," Anderson said.

Freshman Neva Reseska lost both her matches at the No. 1 singles spot for the girls, but she had a thrilling back-and-forth bout with Audrey Judson from Coeur d'Alene. With the match tied at 9-9, the pair went to a tiebreaker and Judson edged out Reseska 9-7.

In girls doubles, Sandpoint's No. 1 pairing of Olivia Petruso and Maureen Wardle went 1-1, claiming a 10-3 win in the match with the Vikings.

"They played really well together," Anderson said.

The team's No. 2 doubles pairing of Maile Evans and Berkeley Cox also recorded a 1-1 mark.

Junior captain Denali Terry bounced back from a close defeat at the No. 2 spot in girls singles against Coeur d'Alene with a dominant 6-2, 6-0 victory over a Lewiston opponent.

"She was on fire against Lewiston," Anderson said. "This was just what she needed to take her game to the level she’s been showing at practice lately."

In boys singles against Lewiston, the Bulldogs' top two players, Josh Embree and Christian Story, both fell. Anderson said the Bengals' No. 1 and No. 2 singles players are extremely tough and it was a good test for Story and Embree.

"Lewiston has got maybe the two best singles players in the state in 5A, which is why we are playing them four times this year because I want us playing Lewiston a lot," he said, "... so our guys got beat by them, but it was a great experience for them and in the 4A, it's going to help them a lot because they won't see anybody as good as those two."

Embree did pick up a 10-2 win at the No. 2 singles position against Coeur d'Alene.

In mixed doubles, Aden Heitz and Adrian Doty secured the sole victory for the Bulldogs across the two matches.

The boys played without senior Josh Jessen. His absence allowed sophomore Owen Larson to step in and see his first action on varsity in singles.

Sandpoint will face Lewiston plenty of times this season and Anderson said it was fun to see how his squad stacked up against them.

"Four matches went into a three-set tiebreaker, that's how close it was," he said. "They're our measuring stick."

Anderson said it was an "absolutely gorgeous" day to be on the court, and the perfect start after a lost 2020 season.

"It was so exhilarating to be out there," he said.

The Bulldogs return home to face Post Falls at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Travers Park.

Sandpoint 6, Coeur d'Alene 6

Sandpoint athletes in bold

GIRLS SINGLES: No. 1 Audrey Judson d. Neva Reseska, 9-9 (9-7). No. 2 Amy Corette d. Denali Terry, 10-7. No. 3 Maise Brazill d. Shelby Gray, 10-5.

GIRLS DOUBLES: Olivia Petruso/Maureen Wardle d. Kelli DeLeonard/Taylor Torgenson, 10-3. Ella Wilson/Addy Curtis d. Maile Evans/Berkeley Cox, 10-2.

BOYS SINGLES: No. 1 Turner Cox d. Christian Story, 10-5. No. 2 Josh Embree d. Alexander Nipp, 10-2. No. 3 Jonathan Perkins d. Owen Larson, 10-4.

BOYS DOUBLES: Charlie Johnson/Tyler McNamee d. Nez Ogle/Theo Schultz, 10-7. Tyler Korn/Carter Johnson d. Jake Watkins/CJ Giao, 10-3.

MIXED DOUBLES: Kobie DeLeonard/Maggie Bloom d. Brahma Heitz/Patch Howard, 10-3. Aden Heitz/Adrian Doty d. Bryan Frantz/Ivy Jeffords, 10-5.

Lewiston 7, Sandpoint 5.

GIRLS SINGLES: No. 1 Rylie Cooper d. Neva Reseska, 6-0, 6-4. No. 2 Denali Terry d. Cathryn Ito, 6-2, 6-0. No. 3 Maise Brazill d. Hope Scott, 6-1, 6-0.

GIRLS DOUBLES: Alli Olson/Shelby Hobbs d. Olivia Petruso/Maureen Wardle, 6-3, 6-3. Maile Evans/Berkeley Cox d. Rachel Sheppard/Lexi Ahlers, 6-6 (7-2), 6-1.

BOYS SINGLES: No. 1 Austin Gomez d. Josh Embree, 6-1, 6-0. No. 2 Dylan Gomez d. Christian Story, 6-1, 6-0. No. 3 Sinjin Cowings d. Owen Larson, 3-6, 6-2 (10-7).

BOYS DOUBLES: Charlie Johnson/Tyler McNamee d. Aidex Brogan/Tristan Bedman, 0-6, 6-4 (10-5). Tyler Korn/Carter Johnson d. Duke McFarland/Kayden Laferriere, 2-6, 6-4 (10-8).

MIXED DOUBLES: Dan Brereton/Ryan Finch d. Brahma Heitz/Patch Howard, 6-3, 6-4. Brenna Berrick/Gretchen Pals d. Aden Heitz/Adrian Doty, 4-6, 6-4 (11-9).