By SARAH COCHRAN, for the Brown County Democrat
It was a long day that ended in defeat, but the Eagles didn’t let it keep them down.
Southwestern (Shelby) High School took first place in a tiebreaker with Brownstown Central on Brown County’s home court. The three schools completed in the Steve Makurat Boys Invitational on Aug. 26.
Southwestern and Brownstown both had nine wins, and the champion was chosen based on a head-to-head match at No. 1 singles. Brown County trailed in third place with two wins.
The Eagles had winners in the No. 1 and No. 2 singles flights. Junior Chase Watson defeated Southwestern’s Mike Abbott and sophomore Aaron McCann defeated Southwestern’s Anthony Atwood.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]However, after a long day of play, the No. 3 singles matches and both doubles flights ended in defeat for the Eagles. Those scores wrapped up a grueling first two weeks of the season, with the Eagles going 1-7 so far.
Still, head coach Kevin Roush is pleased with the growth he is seeing in his young players.
“The Eagles have made some really good strides and continue to improve over the last two weeks,” he said.
“In our two wins, today, I was really impressed with Chase (Watson) in how he handled the pressure of having to come back after losing his first set. Aaron (McCann) seemed to settle in to a good rhythm in his second match,” he said.
Brown County’s young tennis team seems to have found itself in a growing season, but Roush is steadily encouraged by the positive attributes of his players.
“Our freshmen continue to get valuable match experience, as do our junior varsity players. The players all have kept a positive attitude and continue to be leaders in sportsmanship,” he said.
