By TED SCHULTZ and JAMES PENCE, for The Democrat
COLUMBUS — Brown County made it to the boys tennis sectional final for the second year in a row, but once again, the Eagles ran into a powerful Columbus North team.
The 14th-ranked Bull Dogs did not drop more than two games in any set in posting a 5-0 sectional final win Sept. 28.
North’s first point Friday came at No. 2 doubles, where Matthew Liu and Joey Zhao beat Spencer Blee and Noah Cochran 6-0, 6-0. The Bull Dogs’ Nathan Lin and Adam Saad topped Aiden Burt and Nolan Patterson 6-0, 6-2 at No. 1 doubles.
The clinching point came at No. 2 singles, where North’s Bhavey Jain beat Chase Watson 6-1, 6-1. The Bull Dogs’ Kevin Lin then finished off a 6-2, 6-1 win against Aaron McCann at No. 1 singles.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]The final match to be completed came at No. 3 singles, where North’s Eamon Ma beat Josh Miller 6-2, 6-1.
“I think we came in, and we played loose,” Brown County coach Kevin Roush said. “We played really good tennis near the end (of the season). Today, we played about to the best of our ability. Aaron was with Kevin the whole time, Chase hung in there, and for a freshman, Josh did a nice job. Doubles, I think the first set, they backed down a little bit, but the second set, they weren’t afraid, and they kept going at it. I’m really happy with the guys and how they played.”
The Eagles, who finished 9-8, had pulled out 3-2 wins against Columbus East and Hauser the previous two days to reach the final.
In Thursday’s semifinal against Hauser, McCann won against Ethan Wallace 6-2, 6-3 at No. 1 singles. At No. 2 singles, Watson defeated Sean Miller 7-5, 6-4. At No. 3 singles, Miller beat Keagan Miller 6-3, 6-2.
Hauser’s Jacob Luken and Aaron Mee defeated Burt and Patterson 6-2, 6-2 at No. 1 doubles. At No. 2 doubles Caleb Hoover and Tyler Moore of Hauser defeated Spencer Blee and Noah Cochran 6-0, 6-7 (5), (10-5).
“We worked hard to get to this point, and we had a long road beating East and beating Hauser,” Roush said.
In the opening round, Miller pulled out a 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 win against East’s Pranav Kumar at No. 3 singles to give Brown County the victory.
“Honestly, I thought we were losing, so I had no pressure at all,” Miller said. “I had no idea that it was on me. I probably would have been a little more nervous.”
The Olympians scored the first point of the match when JT Kuhlman and Jalen Pleak beat Burt and Patterson 6-1, 6-0 at No. 1 doubles.
The Eagles took a 2-1 lead after McCann beat Luke Miller 6-1, 6-1 at No. 1 singles, and Watson topped Jackson Stevens 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2 singles. McCann’s win was the lone reversal from the teams’ regular-season meeting, which the Olympians won 3-2.
“At the beginning of the season, I was more focused on power and placement, and I should have been more focused on placement just in general, and I think I was able to just place my shots really well and was able to get it past him and have him make his mistakes,” McCann said. “That’s the best way I play. Whenever I’m conservative, I just play my game.”
Roush said McCann was playing at the top of his game.
“He’s playing probably the best tennis I’ve seen him play,” Roush said. “In the last three matches, he’s been spot-on solid. So that was a big kick for us, him turning it around.”
East tied the match when Nathan Hatchett and Derek Heideman beat Blee and Cochran 6-1, 6-3 at No. 2 doubles.
That left it up to Miller to win the deciding match.
“I keep telling them, you have to find a way to win those 50-50 matches, and that’s what this one was,” Roush said. “We gutted out a three-set win with Josh.”
