It wasn't easy, but it was totally convincing.
The Community School tennis team, amassing its highest state tournament point total ever, won its third consecutive State 3A team championship Saturday in Boise.
Winning boys' and mixed doubles and filling all five categories with championship match contenders for the first time in school annals, the Cutthroats (120 points) dominated second-place Parma (79).
The Cutthroats have now won five state tennis championships in six years and have averaged 78.5 team points at state over a 10-year span.
"We were definitely tested this weekend but I was real pleased with how the whole team handed themselves. We won with class and lost with class. It was great," said first-year coach Phil Huss.
Repeating as boys' doubles champions and never losing a set in eight state match victories over two years were senior Wes Flanigan and junior Christian Cairncross. Huss said, "We were hoping Wes and Christian would repeat and they did it with authority."
Freshman Max Sabel and sophomore Jessie Curran made it look easy getting to the mixed doubles championship match, where they dethroned last year's champions from Parma 7-6, 6-3. "Max and Jessie found a way to win," said Huss.
Huss added, "The real standout for us this year was mixed doubles, where we placed first and third. McKenzie Hart and Connor Brown took the #1 seed to three sets and battled back for third."
Indeed, the Cutthroats went from 13 mixed doubles points last year to 32 this time around.
The coach was also impressed with girls' singles. Sophomore Cody Curran played her best tennis of the season in placing second, while freshman Courtney Hamilton capitalized on her cross-country ski fitness to win five of her six matches, for third.
Senior Scooter Sabel, bidding for a first state boys' singles title after second place in 2004 and third last year, ran into a Colombian foreign exchange student named Esteban Ferrero in the title match. Payette's Ferrero won 6-0, 6-3.
Huss said, "Scooter did such a great job. He served well and took charge out there. I was impressed with his competitiveness and his spirit and how he handled everything."
Cutthroat singles star of the future, freshman Peter Atkinson, won three matches in straight sets in his first state trip at Timberline High School.
Placing second in girls' doubles were senior Devon Bunce and junior Mandy Alexander in a rematch of last year's girls' doubles title match. This time, Parma's Logan Smyser and McKenzie Timmons came out ahead 6-4, 1-6, 6-4.
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State 3A tennis top placings
Boys singles
Final results
1—Esteban Ferrero (Payette senior, #2 seed)
2—Scooter Sabel (CS senior, #1 seed, 2nd 2004)
3—Trent Timmons (Parma senior, #4 seed, 4th 2005)
4—Joshua Myers (Homedale junior)
Summary: CS 7-5 match record, 21 points BS
Championship—Esteban Ferrero (Payette) 6-0, 6-3 over Scooter Sabel (CS)
Third place—Trent Timmons (Parma) 6-2, 6-3 over Joshua Myers (Homedale)
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Girls singles
Final results
1—Rayna Allen (Clark Fork junior, #2 seed, 2nd 2004)
2—Cody Curran (CS soph, #1 seed)
3—Courtney Hamilton (CS freshman)
4—Veronica Rodriquez (Fruitland senior, #3 seed)
Summary: CS 8-4 match record, 28 points GS
Championship—Rayna Allen (Clark Fork) 6-0, 6-1 over Cody Curran (CS)
Third place—Courtney Hamilton (CS) 6-1, 6-2 over Veronica Rodriquez (Fruitland)
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Boys doubles
Final results
1—Wes Flanigan-Christian Cairncross (CS senior, junior, #1 seed, defending state champion)
2—Bill Clayton-Thomas McMahon (Clark Fork senior, soph, #3 seed)
3—Aaron Fleming-Brian King (Sugar-Salem senior, soph)
4—Trent Weber-Bryant Timmons (Parma senior, soph, #2 seed)
Summary: CS 7-2 match record, 23 points BD
Championship—Wes Flanigan-Christian Cairncross (CS) 6-1, 6-2 over Bill Clayton-Thomas McMahon (Clark Fork)
Third place—Aaron Fleming-Brian King (Sugar-Salem) 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 over Trent Weber-Bryant Timmons (Parma)
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Girls doubles
Final results
1—Logan Smyser-McKenzie Timmons (Parma juniors, #1 seed, 2nd state 2005)
2—Devon Bunce-Mandy Alexander (CS senior, junior, #3 seed, defending state champions)
3—Kasey Gibbs-Natalie Wilkins (Weiser juniors)
4—Caitlin Parker-Erin Urquhart (Grangeville senior, junior, #2 seed)
Summary: CS 3-3 match record, 16 points GD
Championship—Logan Smyser-McKenzie Timmons (Parma) 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 over Devon Bunce-Mandy Alexander (CS)
Third place—Kasey Gibbs-Natalie Wilkins (Weiser) 6-2, 6-2 over Caitlin Parker-Erin Urquhart (Grangeville)
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Mixed doubles
Final results
1—Max Sabel-Jessie Curran (CS freshman, soph, #2 seed)
2—Jesse Chaney-Samantha Frazier (Parma senior, junior, #1 seed, defending state champion)
3—Connor Brown-McKenzie Hart (CS soph, senior, #4 seed)
4—Martin Fuelleborn-Kalynn Wold (Clark Fork seniors, #3 seed)
Summary: CS 8-1 match record, 32 points MD
Championship—Max Sabel-Jessie Curran (CS) 7-6, 6-3 over Jesse Chaney-Samantha Frazier (Parma)
Third place—Connor Brown-McKenzie Hart (CS) 6-0, 6-4 over Martin Fuelleborn-Kalynn Wold (Clark Fork)
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Community School state results
Boys singles
2nd place—Scooter Sabel (CS senior 3-1): Won 6-0, 6-0 over Jeff Osterberg (Deary junior); won 6-0, 6-3 over Joshua Myers (Homedale junior); won 6-1 ,6-4 over Trent Timmons (Parma senior). Championship—lost 6-0, 6-3 to Esteban Ferrero (Payette senior).
Peter Atkinson (CS freshman 3-2): Won 6-0, 6-1 over B.J. Allen (Clearwater Valley junior); lost 6-1, 6-1 to Esteban Ferrero (Payette senior); won 6-4, 6-1 over Steven Holman (Sugar-Salem soph); won 6-0, 6-1 over Mike Martin (Clark Fork soph); lost 6-0, 6-2 to Trent Timmons (Parma senior).
Travis Stone (CS sophomore 1-2): Lost 6-4, 6-0 to Anthony Velie (Parma junior); won 6-2, 6-1 over Brandon Bigford (Troy junior); lost 6-1, 7-5 to Johnny Hullinger (Weiser junior).
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Girls singles
2nd place—Cody Curran (CS sophomore 3-1): Won 6-1, 6-0 over Mandy Grief (Payette senior); won 6-2, 6-4 over Audrey Leas (Deary senior); won 2-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-1 over Kaitlin Farmer (Fruitland junior). Championship—lost 6-0, 6-1 to Rayna Allen (Clark Fork junior).
3rd place—Courtney Hamilton (CS senior 5-1): Won 6-1, 6-2 over Jessica Brotherton (Payette senior); lost 6-3, 6-3 to Rayna Allen (Clark Fork junior); won 6-2, 6-1 over Mandy Grief (Payette senior); won 6-0, 6-2 over Jenny Shaner (Parma freshman); won 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 over Kaitlin Farmer (Fruitland junior). Third place—won 6-1, 6-2 over Veronica Rodriquez (Fruitland senior).
Grayson Palmer (CS junior 0-2): Lost 6-1, 6-0 to Veronica Rodriquez (Fruitland senior); lost 6-1, 6-3 to Cassie Dayley (Sugar-Salem junior).
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Boys doubles
1st place—Wes Flanigan-Christian Cairncross (CS senior, junior 4-0): Won 6-1, 6-1 over Esteban Cabrera-Marcus Heleker (Payette senior, junior); won 6-3, 6-0 over Andrew Bingham-Caleb Johnson (Homedale juniors); won 6-2, 6-4 over Halden Nielsen-Clinton Jacks (Parma sophomore, freshman, #4 seed). Championship—won 6-1, 6-2 over Bill Clayton-Thomas McMahon (Clark Fork senior, soph).
Tyler Chandler-Riley Berman (CS senior, freshman 3-2): Lost 6-1, 6-4 to Trent Weber-Bryant Timmons (Parma senior, soph); won 6-2, 6-0 over Drew McCulley-Kyle Fournier (Grangeville senior, freshman); won 6-0, 6-0 over Andrew Bingham-Caleb Johnson (Homedale juniors); won 6-2, 6-4 over Lucas McFarland-Jacob Nichols (Culdesac senior, junior); lost 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 to Aaron Fleming-Brian King (Sugar-Salem senior, soph).
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Girls doubles
2nd place—Devon Bunce-Mandy Alexander (CS senior, junior 3-1): Won 6-0, 6-1 over Susan Greenberg-Jenny Dalton (Deary seniors); won 6-1, 6-0 over Erin Nielsen-Kaitlin Nielsen (Parma junior, soph); won 6-3, 6-3 over Bridgette Teunissen-Carlie Beck (Fruitland sophs). Championship—lost 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 to Logan Smyser-McKenzie Timmons (Parma juniors)
Guin Frehling-Emily Eshman (CS senior, soph 0-2): Lost 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to Shanae Galloway-Andrea Schwangler (Homedale juniors); lost 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 to Rene Zenner-Chelsie Zenner (Culdesac senior, junior, #4 seed).
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Mixed doubles
1st place—Max Sabel-Jessie Curran (CS freshman, soph 4-0): Won 6-1, 6-0 over Gentry Jenkins-Lisa Bafus (Troy senior, junior); won 6-1, 6-1 over Robert Byars-Kristyn King (Payette); won 6-0, 6-1 over Martin Fuelleborn-Kalynn Wold (Clark Fork seniors). Championship—won 7-6, 6-3 over Jesse Chaney-Samantha Frazier (Parma senior, junior)
3rd place—Connor Brown-McKenzie Hart (CS soph, senior 4-1): Won 6-2, 6-3 over Michael Rich-Jessica Rekward (Payette soph, senior); won 6-3, 6-4 over Nolan Nelson-Alyssa Crawford (Culdesac juniors); lost 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to Jesse Chaney-Samantha Frazier (Parma senior, junior); won 6-4, 6-1 over Michael Jemmett-Shelly Brogdon (Parma seniors). Third place—won 6-0, 6-4 over Martin Fuelleborn-Kalynn Wold (Clark Fork seniors).
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2006 State 3A tennis team results
1—(120 points) Community School 21 BS, 28 GS, 23 BD, 16 GD, 32 MD
1st—BD, MD. 2nd—BS, GS, GD. 3rd—GS, MD.
Fifth state title in six years. Finished first or second at state in nine of the last 10 state meets. Successive point totals were 53 in 1997, 46 in 1998,
52 in 1999, 76 in 2000, 91 in 2001, 94 in 2002, 59 in 2003, 86 in 2004, 108 in 2005 and 120 in 2006. Average point total at state in those 10 years, including 2006, has been 78.5 points.
2—(79 points) Parma 16 BS, 7 GS, 13 BD, 23 GD, 20 MD
1st—GD. 2nd—MD. 3rd—BS. 4th—BD.
3—(49 points) Clark Fork 2 BS, 20 GS, 16 BD, 2 GD, 9 MD
1st—GS. 2nd—BD.
4—Payette (9) 28 points. 5—Fruitland (10) 23 points. 6—Sugar-Salem (14) 20 points. 7 (tie)—Weiser (7) and Homedale (6) 15 points apiece. 9 (tie)—Culdesac (6) and Grangeville (8) 8 points apiece. 11—Deary (6) 4 points. 12—Clearwater Valley (6) 3 points. 13 (tie)—Gooding (8) and Post Falls Christian (2) 1 point each. 15 (tie)—Coeur d'Alene Charter (1) and Troy (3) 0 points apiece.
Points by singles/doubles—
120—Community School (33-15 all matches, vs. 30-14 last year)—49 points singles (15-9), 57 points doubles (18-6)
State mixed doubles champions Max Sabel and Jessie Curran. Express photo by Jeff Cordes
