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WICHITA | Maranatha didn’t finish the Kansas 3A-1A boys tennis tournament on Saturday as well as coach Karen Hayes would have liked.
“We lost our last four matches,” Hayes said, shaking her head with a laugh.
But Maranatha still took third with 27 points, which Hayes said is the school’s best finish.
For the second straight season, Maranatha brought all six of its players to the tournament; no other team brought more than five. Last year Maranatha finished sixth.
Wichita Collegiate won the team title with 38 points, taking the top two spots in doubles. Conway Springs took second with 34 points, finishing third and fourth in doubles and getting a third-place singles finish from Mitchell Kibbe.
Hayes first thought Maranatha had the opportunity to finish in the top three after Friday’s matches because all six players were still alive.
“After (Friday) we realized we had that chance, but coming into the tournament, you just don’t know,” said Hayes, in her seventh season as Maranatha’s coach.
Sophomore Bryan Thomas was Maranatha’s only player to advance to Saturday’s semifinals. But he faltered, losing 6-2, 7-5 to Claflin’s Taylor Bieberle in the semis. In the third-place match, Thomas fell 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 to Kibbe. Wichita Independent’s Ryan Norman won his second straight singles title with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Bieberle.
“I was ahead in the (third-place match), but then I broke down, down the stretch, and didn’t play as well as I could,” Thomas said.
Maranatha’s doubles team of Kyle Reighard and Seth Swank had to beat teammates David Kidd and Drew Swank to get into the fifth-place match.
Reighard-Swank lost to Claflin’s Layton Hickel and Mason Hickel 9-3, finishing sixth.
Mike Bassett was Immaculata’s top finisher, taking 10th, while the Kansas City Christian doubles team of Bradley Brooks and Evan Trammel finished ninth.
Maasberg places in 5A
WICHITA | Bishop Miege may not have finished as well as it hoped at the Kansas 5A state tennis tournament this year, but there were lessons to be learned.
Rafael Maasberg rebounded on Saturday and finished ninth in singles after suffering from severe cramps in Friday’s opening rounds. Maasberg knocked off Ale Buogo of Lansing 9-6 before beating Topeka Seaman’s Tyler Nelson 9-3 in the ninth-place match at the Riverside Tennis Center.
“Rafael played very well today,” Miege coach Gail Gregory said. “I’m proud of the way he bounced back.”
Doubles tandem of Will Stadler and Joe Schultz also earned medals for Bishop Miege, finishing 10th in doubles.
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