Prep tennis | Southeast boys edge Bayshore, Lemon Bay for district title
ENGLEWOOD -- The Class 2A-District 11 tournament this year played out the way Southeast hoped its 2015 trip to the district tournament would.
This year's Seminoles boys team wasn't necessarily significantly better than the prior season's iteration. Sometimes the matchups and matches just swing a certain way.
After two days in Englewood, the Noles clinched the district Class 2A-11 championship at Lemon Bay High School on Tuesday with 14 points. Bayshore and Lemon Bay still have a match to determine the runner-up -- the Manta Rays lead the Bruins 11-10.
"Last year was very similar. We had beaten all the teams there and we were kind of like the co-favorite, but because of matchups and the way things worked out we weren't even a sniff," Southeast boys head coach Howard Eberly said. "This year was kind of similar again, but the matchups were favorable to us and the kids stepped up and played very well. It's funny how that works."
The Seminoles earned a pair of individual district championships and one doubles victory. Parth Patel, the Noles' No. 3 player, upset Lemon Bay in the final to give Southeast a surprising edge and its first district champion of the year. Sebastian Suarez, the Seminoles' No. 4, earned another win (6-0, 6-1).
The Noles' No. 2 doubles team of Suarez and Konrad Strzalkowski also won a district championship Tuesday.
"I was kind of expecting Sebastian to win at (No.) 4 and our (No.) 2s to win it there," Eberly said. "Parth's win earlier put us over the top."
BHS already has one district championship with No. 1 Shiva Puri, who reached the state tournament last year.
Patel's win also stole a point from the Manta Rays, opening the door for Bayshore to potentially grab a share of second place in the district Wednesday.
The district tournament, which was originally scheduled to be a two-day event, now concludes Wednesday after rain shortened Tuesday's portion of the event.
Lakewood Ranch's Cohen advances to district final
Four of the Lakewood Ranch girls' five singles players won at least once Tuesday at the Class 4A-District 8 tournament in Sarasota before rain shortened the day.
Gia Cohen was so dominant, she won twice.
The Mustangs' No. 1 singles player picked up a pair of wins to clinch a spot in Thursday's final at the Bath & Racquet Fitness Club.
Ranch's Nos. 2, 3 and 4 also won. The Lakewood Ranch boys went 1-3 in the opening day.
The Class 4A-8 tournament was originally scheduled to be a two-day event, but will now be extended to three.
Quarterfinal and semifinals conclude Wednesday at 8 a.m. in both singles and doubles.
Finals in both will be played Thursday.
Braden River boys start 5-0
The Braden River boys came into the Class 3A-District 10 tournament Tuesday in St. Petersburg with state title aspirations and although rain cut the opening day in half, the Pirates placed themselves on a proper path.
All five BRHS singles players earned first-round wins at Treasure Bay Golf and Tennis before the event was postponed for another day.
No. 1 David Ojeda (6-2, 6-1), No. 2 Race Arande (6-2, 7-6), No. 3 Sebastian Buscarion (6-0, 6-0), No. 4 Xavier Muzquiz (6-0, 6-1) and No. 5 Colson Engelberger (6-0, 6-0) all won in straight sets to move within one win of a district championship match.
The tournament, which was previously scheduled as a two-day event, will continue Wednesday at 9 a.m. and wrap up Thursday.
This story was originally published March 29, 2016 at 11:32 PM with the headline "Prep tennis | Southeast boys edge Bayshore, Lemon Bay for district title ."