Center Grove senior Tyler Lane finished as the state singles runner-up on Saturday.
Ted Schultz | For the Daily Journal
INDIANAPOLIS
After dropping the first four games and falling behind 5-1 in the first set of Saturday afternoon’s state singles final, Center Grove senior Tyler Lane came back to within a couple of points of tying Columbus North’s Hank Lin at 5-5.
But with Lin leading 5-4 and 40-30, Lane hit a return that set Lin up for a kill shot. Lin mishit the shot, but it landed just over the net and out of reach of Lane to finish off the set.
Lin then went on to capture the second set 6-2 to claim the title.
“He had him on the ropes there that first set,” Center Grove coach David Beasley said. “Hank hit that overhead for set point in the first set, shanked an overhead winner. He misses that, and it could be anybody’s first set.”
Lane took a 2-1 lead in the second set, but Lin ran off five consecutive games to secure the title.
“I don’t think I ran out of gas,” Lane said. “This match, I made a few more errors than him, and he hit a couple better shots than me. It was a close match, and he just played better today.”
While Lin won his semifinal match on Saturday morning in straight sets, Lane needed three sets to get past Homestead’s Benjamin Garreen. Lane saved two match points in rallying for 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory.
“I didn’t play to the best of my ability by any means, but I raised my level in the third set when I needed to,” Lane said.
“He made a huge comeback in that third set, so we were just ecstatic to be here in the final to start,” Beasley added. “So it was a long first match. He competed so well in that final match.”
Lane finishes the season 21-4. He led the Trojans to a state runner-up finish in last week’s team tournament.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to get to the state finals since I started playing tennis around (age) 10, and being able to get here was obviously a great accomplishment,” Lane said.