Chris Williams | For the Daily Journal
Host Center Grove was nearly perfect in defending its boys’ tennis sectional championship on Thursday afternoon.
In a match that lasted a little more than an hour, the seventh-ranked Trojans breezed through Franklin, 5-0, and now moves into a regional semifinal next Tuesday against Franklin Central, which won its sectional by taking out Beech Grove.
The frightening thing is, the Trojans (19-5) were digging into their depth as injuries prevented them from fielding their usual season unit.
“We had to make some lineup changes going into the tournament,” Center Grove coach David Beasley said. “Daksh Patel had been playing two doubles because of some injuries. We made the call right before the tournament.”
That didn’t seem to hurt the Trojans at all as the sophomore Patel beat sophomore Nathan Neville 6-0, 6-0 at third singles.
Patel was just the next man up doing his job, along with No. 1 and No. 2 singles players Tyler Lane and Loc Pham.
The sophomore Lane also won 6-0, 6-0 by topping the Grizzly Cubs’ top singles player, senior Caleb Funkhouser.
Pham, a junior, won 6-1, 6-1 over Franklin sophomore Reid Davidson.
It was a perfect night for the doubles teams as well, as the No. 1 tandem of Max Williams and Even Davis won 6-0, 6-0 over Pryce Rucker and Luke Sherry. Sophomores Carson Bush and Dimitrios Kandris also won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 2 over the senior Cub duo of Ian Blackketter and Dylan Funkhouser.
Beasley cited the previous match the Trojans had against Whiteland as a factor in making sure his team had the right mindset. Center Grove won that one 5-0 after previously beating the Warriors 3-2.
“We were focused,” Beasley said. “I was proud of everyone. Our guys train hard all year long, and we just push really hard and expect results from that.
“It’s a testament to their training.”
The Trojans, who could again make the state finals with their experience and versatility, didn’t know the identity of their next opponent when their match ended Thursday — but their coach doesn’t believe it makes much of a difference.
“It’s hard to know as we haven’t played or scouted them,” Beasley said. “It doesn’t matter who you’re playing; you have to push the pedal to the ground.”
