If would have been all Pocatello, if not for the determined effort of three Wood River High School girls during last week's state-qualifying Great Basin Conference 4A district tennis tourney at Sun Valley Tennis Club.
Wood River's girls' singles winner Hadley DeBree and girls' doubles victors Abby Fairman and Jackie Safran broke up a Pocatello party between top team finishers Pocatello High and Century.
DeBree, Fairman and Safran wrested individual championships away from Pocatello schools Century—winner of boys' singles and mixed doubles—and Pocatello, which swept boys' doubles en route to a 96-81 team win over Century.
Wood River (66 points) nipped Burley by one point for third place out of six teams and qualified four players for the State 4A tennis tournament Friday and Saturday at Vallivue High School in Caldwell.
Top-seeded DeBree, a junior, won all three of her matches including a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 championship match decision over Wood River freshman teammate Anna Chrysikopoulos, a talented newcomer from St. Louis.
After dropping the first set to hard-hitting Chrysikopoulos and falling behind 3-0 in the second set, DeBree regrouped and won 12 of the final 14 games to capture her first-ever district girls' singles title.
Chrysikopoulos, who won three straight-set decisions at district prior to her finals loss, will join DeBree at state tennis this coming weekend.
So will #2-seeded Fairman and Safran, who dropped only 10 of 46 games en route to three match wins and a 6-3, 6-1 championship match victory over top-seeded Jessica Steele and Ashley Goodell of Pocatello.
With all the success enjoyed by its 13 players at district, including the 3-2 record in boys' singles posted by senior Willie Meyers, Wood River was nevertheless left with a feeling of what "might have been."
Suspensions of five players for curfew violations during a Boise trip in late April kicked Wood River out of contention in boys' singles and mixed doubles, events the Wolverines might have won or placed high.
Coaches John Radford and Jim Boatwright appreciated the effort shown by the remaining players. Wood River (36 points girls' singles, 20 girls' doubles) compiled a 14-11 match record in its first-ever district competition at the tougher 4A level.
And it will be tough in Caldwell. Not only does the 4A meet offer the likes of defending state champion and current 4A District Three titlist Bishop Kelly of Boise, two other powers have dropped down from 5A this year—Nampa and Pocatello.
Nampa finished second to 14-time state champion Bishop Kelly 141-100 in last week's District Three tournament. Nampa's girls' singles winner was Tara Tuttle in a thrilling third-set tiebreaker over Anna Maria Gould of Bishop Kelly. BK also boasted the girls' doubles champs in Annie Watkins and Kim Clements.
(See "2005 Great Basin Conference 4A tennis tournament" story for more complete results):
Final team totals
1—Pocatello 96 points (12 BS/1 GS/ 36 BD/28 GD/19 MD).
2—Century 81.
3—Wood River 66 (4 BS/36 GS/0 BD/20 GD/6 MD).
4—Burley 65.
5—Minico 21.
6—Jerome 16.
Previous Great Basin champions:
2002—Century.
2003—Century.
2004—Jerome.
State qualifiers
Pocatello (16 entrants)—11 to state (1 S, 5 D).
Century (17 entrants)—8 to state (2 S, 3 D).
Wood River (13 entrants)—4 to state (2 S, 1 D).
Burley (16 entrants)—8 to state (2 S, 3 D).
Minico (16 entrants)—1 to state (1 S).
Jerome (15 entrants)—0 to state.
Boys' singles (all to state)
Championship—Daniel Spicer (Century) 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) over Trevor Matthew (Burley).
Third place—Bryce Jurgensmeier (Minico) 6-2, 6-2 over Sam Hale (Pocatello).
Girls' singles (all to state)
Championship—Hadley DeBree (WR) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 over Anna Chrysikopoulos (WR).
Third place—Melissa Vargason (Century) 7-5, 6-2 over Tesha Jones (Burley).
Boys' doubles (all to state)
Championship—David Kutchins-Logan Aytes (Pocatello) 6-1, 6-2 over Chris Jones-Brian Prussia (Pocatello).
Third place—Chad Davis-Sam Child (Burley) 6-3, 6-3 over Matt Kress-Chester Kener (Century).
Girls' doubles (all to state)
Championship—Abby Fairman-Jackie Safran (WR juniors) 6-3, 6-1 over Jessica Steele-Ashley Goodell (Pocatello).
Third place—Emily Woodhouse-Maddy Woodhouse (Pocatello) 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 over Kiera Maples-Krystal Maples (Century).
Mixed doubles (all to state)
Championship—Matt Sutton-Cory Farnsworth (Century) 6-2, 6-3 over Marcus Thiemann-Brittany Goodell (Pocatello).
Third place—Chase Clark-Amber Funk (Burley) 6-3, 6-4 over David Horstman-Amanda Vandever (Burley).
