When a program boasts a past lined with 33 sectional championships, one might half-expect the 34th to be taken for granted.
Not so in the case of 11th-ranked Center Grove boys tennis team, which took to its own courts on Thursday and blanked No. 24 Whiteland, 5-0, in the title match.
Equipped with many new starters from a year ago, coach Ivan Smith’s squad continues its season at home on Tuesday with a regional semifinal match against Perry Meridian.
Exciting times indeed.
“Last year, I played JV No. 1 doubles,” said senior Connor Smith, who teamed with freshman Carson Bush to prevail at No. 2 doubles against Whiteland’s combination of sophomore Carson Baumann and Joseph Brosnan, 6-1, 6-2. “I got one varsity match in (last season), but that was about it.
“I’ve been waiting four years to be part of this, winning a sectional championship.”
Freshman Tyler Lane, the Trojans’ No. 1 singles player who doesn’t turn 15 until November, shared his teammate’s attitude. Lane scored a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Whiteland senior Dylan Gross, who earlier this month helped lead his team a second consecutive Mid-State Conference championship.
Lane’s win proved to be the clinching point.
Center Grove had already dominated doubles play with the Smith/Bush triumph, followed by senior Bennett Strain and soph Max Williams scoring a 6-2, 6-0 win against Warriors senior Ariss Mardanzai and Chase Koester, a sophomore, at No. 1 doubles.
“It’s really fun. I really like my teammates, who have made it a really fun year for me so far,” Lane said. “Today, I just had to play my game, keep calm and not freak out when I start to lose some games. Just keep positive thoughts in my mind to keep me going.”
Center Grove junior Evan Davis downed Whiteland freshman Spencer Gillespie at the third singles spot, 6-4, 6-0. The Warriors’ last opportunity at postseason advancement was dashed as yet another Trojans freshman, Daksh Patel, defeated Ty McCullars at No. 2 singles, 6-4, 0-6 (10-4).
Whiteland, a squad with four sophomores and a freshman in the lineup, finished with a record of 19-3. This might have been something of a surprise to some local tennis enthusiasts, but not longtime Warriors coach Mike Gillespie.
He felt his squad performed better on Thursday than in its 4-1 loss to Center Grove in the regular season.
“We played a lot better tonight across the board. Sometimes scores are not indicative of what happened. I was really proud of how we competed,” Gillespie said. “Center Grove is a really good team. They’re better than us, but I’m a competitor and my teams are like that. We competed. We just got beat by a better team. We had a great season. I would take that season every season, without a doubt.”
