Bearcats Drop State Quarterfinals Match to Panthers

Gazebo Gazette

The Long Beach High School (LBHS) Tennis team hosted long- time rival Brookhaven for the State Quarterfinals of the MHSAA 5A Tennis playoffs.

Both teams are equally talented and fought hard to the very last court, and with the last two deciding courts fin- ishing with 3rd set tiebreakers the ex- citement was absolutely thrilling.

In the end, Brookhaven won a few more points in those tiebreakers and won the overall match score with a 4-3. Brookhaven moves on to compete against West Jones for the South State title, thus ending Long Beach’s chances of a team title.

The Bearcats season ended the team season with only 2 loses (Gulfport and Brookhaven), making it the best they’ve had in years. The season isn’t over for Long Beach, though, as they prepare for the MHSAA Individual Tennis tournament being hosted in Oxford, MS from April 25-27th.

With the Bearcats sending 10 experienced players (6 positions), the tennis team will be poised to make a deep run at winning individual championships.

The players and positions that qualified for the individual tournament are as follows:

*Nick Dulaney (Junior) – Boys Singles

*Ada Shirk (Senior) – Girls Singles

*Caleb Solangi (Senior) and Easton van Norden (Junior) – Boys Doubles

*Stokley Sawyer (Senior) and Henry Sawyer (Sophomore) – Boys Doubles

*Jenna Shirk (Sophomore) and Wilhelmina Vall (Senior) – Girls Doubles

*Alex Hailes (Junior) and Sammy Wilson (Senior) – Mixed Doubles

Results from the LBHS vs Brookhaven Round 3 Playoff match:

*Nick Dulaney – Boys Singles – Won (6/1, 6/0)

*Ada Shirk – Girls Singles – Won(6/1, 6/2)

*Caleb Solangi and Easton van Norden – Lost (7/6, 5/7, 0/1)

*Stokley Sawyer and Henry Sawyer – Won (6/0, 6/1)