Of all 21 Blaine County players competing in state high school tennis tournaments last weekend in the Treasure Valley, Wood River High School junior Hadley DeBree had perhaps the toughest challenge.
Fourth District champion DeBree was highly regarded, the second seed in the very competitive 4A girls' singles bracket at Vallivue High School. She was right in the middle of a slew of District Three stars who had been knocking heads all season in their Boise-area 4A league.
A state mixed doubles champion in the 3A class as a freshman, DeBree realized that moving up a class and facing tougher opponents was a tall order. So did her teammates, freshman Anna Chrysikopoulos and the junior girls' doubles team of Jackie Safran and Abby Fairman.
But the small Wood River contingent did well during the Hailey school's 30th visit to the state tennis meet. DeBree placed fourth in girls' singles, Chrysikopoulos won three matches and Safran-Fairman narrowly missed the consolation final.
"We did extremely well," said Wood River coach John Radford, whose team finished 10 of 20 schools with 17 points. Bishop Kelly of Boise, winning three of the five events, romped to its record-setting 15th state team title 97-43 over Nampa.
DeBree opened her state quest with a pair of straight-set triumphs over a Madison junior and a Bishop Kelly freshman. Then she ran into an engine that couldn't be stopped in Third District runner-up Anna-Maria Gould of Bishop Kelly, a precocious freshman. Gould sent DeBree to the consolation bracket 6-1, 6-3.
Gould went on to win her first state title 6-4, 7-5 over Bishop Kelly teammate Sarina Stadtmueller.
DeBree stayed alive with a 6-4, 6-2 decision over Chrysikopoulos, then the #1 Hailey girls' singles player exited with a tough 7-6 (4), 7-5 loss to District Three champion Tara Tuttle, the top seed from Nampa.
Chrysikopoulos suffered her first tournament loss in straight sets to junior Tuttle, then she won twice in the consolation bracket.
In girls' doubles, Safran and Fairman won their first match in split sets over a Bishop Kelly pair, then lost in two games to eventual silver medalists Jenny Baughman and Karah Hillesland of Caldwell.
District champions Safran and Fairman cruised to two easy wins in the consolation bracket and had a good chance to make the third-place match for placement, but they fell 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-2 to Pocatello juniors Jessica Steele and Ashley Goodell.
Wood River players won nine of their 15 state matches.
For more complete tournament results and outcomes for all Wood River players at Caldwell, check this week's Express Web site:
Final team totals
(state qualifiers in parentheses)
1—Bishop Kelly of Boise (16) 97 points—sixth state title in eight years. 2—Nampa (7) 43 points. 3 (tie)—Hillcrest of Idaho Falls (10) 31 points. 3 (tie)—Pocatello (11) 31 points. 10—Wood River (4) 17 points.
Points by category
(97)—Bishop Kelly: 2 BS, 38 GS, 3 BD, 31 GD, 23 MD=97. Placements: 1st—GS, GD, MD. 2nd—GS. 4th—GD.
(43)—Nampa: 27 BS, 12 GS, 4 BD, 0 GD, 0 MD=43. Placements: 2nd—BS. 3rd—GS. 4th—BS.
(17)—Wood River: 0 BS, 13 GS, 0 BD, 4 GD, 0 MD=17. Placements: 4th—GS.
Boys' singles
Championship—Patrick Schwendemann (Bonneville junior) 6-3, 6-1 over Stephan Thomas (Nampa senior).
Third place—Morgan Scott (Moscow sophomore) 6-7 (4), 6-3, 7-5 over Fabio Victor (Nampa senior).
Girls' singles
Championship—Anna-Maria Gould (Bishop Kelly freshman) 6-4, 7-5 over Sarina Stadtmueller (Bishop Kelly junior).
Third place—Tara Tuttle (Nampa junior) 7-6 (4), 7-5 over Hadley DeBree (Wood River junior).
Boys' doubles
Championship—Ben Richner-Kevin Tucker (Vallivue senior, junior) 6-2, 6-1 over David Kutchins-Logan Aytes (Pocatello senior, junior).
Third place—John Linford-Trenton Baker (Hillcrest juniors) 6-3, 6-3 over Adam Mugleston-Brian McDermott (Rigby seniors).
Girls' doubles
Championship—Annie Watkins-Kim Clements (Bishop Kelly juniors) 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 over Jenny Baughman-Karah Hillesland (Caldwell sophomores).
Third place—Jessica Steele-Ashley Goodell (Pocatello juniors) 6-1, 6-1 over Kayla Bergquist-Samantha Peterson (Bishop Kelly senior, junior).
Mixed doubles
Championship—Matt Schaff-Kassie Seger (Bishop Kelly sophomore, freshman) 6-2, 6-1 over Clayton Parkinson-Amie Jefferis (Blackfoot senior, junior).
Third place—Jeff Kuehn-Amanda McEldowney (Caldwell seniors) 6-2, 6-7 (1), 6-1 over Mike Simpson-Sadie Quigley (Hillcrest senior, junior)
