An amazing four-year string of success for The Community School tennis
program culminated in another state runner-up team trophy and a school record for points
during the State Class B meet in Boise.
The Cutthroats of coaches Mark Scribner and Harry Weekes could hardly have
performed better last weekend.
They won 23 of their 29 matches. They nearly swept girls’ and
boys’ singles. They did it with a relatively low number of nine state entries.
Sophomore Lauren Drew repeated as state girls’ singles champion,
losing only four games in four straight-set wins. In two state trips, Drew has been
dominant. She is 8-0 and owns an incredible mark of 96-9 in games.
Drew wasn’t alone.
Amassing 48 points in singles, The Community School captured its third
state runner-up trophy in four years with an impressive 76 points.
That’s the best team result in the 16 years that Ketchum/Sun Valley
has sent tennis players to state. Previous best—53 points in 1997. Over four years
the Cutthroats have totaled 227 state points, 141 in singles alone.
Only Bishop Kelly of Boise (107 points/14 state entries) did better in
winning the school’s third consecutive state team tennis championship and 12th
overall. Bishop Kelly won four of five categories this year, and seven of 10 over two
years.
But it was Bishop Kelly’s last hurrah, leaving the chase for the gold
wide open for the foreseeable future. The Knights are moving up to the Class A Division 2
ranks next year.
Giving the Cutthroats 10 placement points for his strong second-place
finish was sophomore Ryan Drew. Drew came within a point or two in a tiebreaker of
dethroning defending boys’ singles king Andy Livingston of Bishop Kelly.
Third in boys’ doubles for the Cutthroats were juniors Alex McCoy and
Carson Sofro. Also placing third for seven placement points were seniors Lindsey Woodcock
and Colleen Enright in girls’ doubles, and freshman Perry Palmedo in boys’
singles.
For more photos of the Cutthroat players, check this week’s Local
Life.
Girls’ singles—The dominating presence of Lauren Drew
forced many Class B coaches to increase their chances of success by moving singles players
into doubles this year.
Two-time district champion Drew breezed into the final with three
straight-set wins, then bounced familiar rival Katie Sanders of Wood River 6-2, 6-0 in the
championship.
Drew became the first Cutthroat with two state championships. She joined
John Driscoll of Wood River (1989-90) and John Jacoby (1985-86) as the only Blaine County
players with back-to-back singles titles.
Third place went to freshman Laura Guth of Bishop Kelly, and fourth to
senior Lisa Johnson, Troy.
Boys’ singles—Ryan Drew, older than sister Lauren by 17
months, played much older than a sophomore in extending defending champ Livingston to
three sets. Livingston’s experience paid off 4-6, 7-6, 6-2.
Drew clearly benefited from a week of practice with 1997 Cutthroat
boys’ state singles champion Chancey Martin, now playing for Notre Dame. Gambling
side-to-side with challenging ground strokes, Drew was the aggressor and won the first set
6-4.
In the second set, Livingston steadied himself and started going to the
net to disrupt Drew’s flow. Nonetheless Drew hung in there and forced a tiebreaker.
The young man actually had the lead in the tiebreaker before senior Livingston rallied.
Livingston, who had pinned the only loss on third-place Drew last year at
state, by a 6-0, 6-4 score, dominated the third set and kept the title. But two-time
district champion Drew made quite an impression, and now has a 7-2 state mark.
Palmedo (4-1) earned the bronze with four straight-set victories including
a 6-2, 6-0 third-place win over Fruitland soph Ben Judson. Palmedo’s only loss came
at the hands of Livingston, 6-0, 6-3.
Girls’ doubles—The key to The Community School’s
second-place team finish was probably the gutsy performance of seniors Woodcock and
Enright. They certainly got their money’s worth, going 5-1.
They were playing together in their third state meet, determined to make
amends for last year, when Woodcock suffered food poisoning at the outset and the pair
exited with a 1-2 mark.
After an easy first-round triumph, two-time district champions Woodcock
and Enright dropped a heartrending 6-7 (7-5), 7-5, 6-3 decision to eventual second-place
Tricia Haddock/Kim Bake of Parma.
The Cutthroat seniors stormed back, winning four straight-set matches
including a 7-6, 7-5 third-place duel with a Homedale pair.
Woodcock and Enright never had a chance to play eventual champions Jaclyn
Golus and Danielle Berricochoa of Bishop Kelly.
Boys’ doubles—Juniors Alex McCoy and Carson Sofro (4-1)
battled well over two days and won their final match 7-5, 6-2 over a Homedale pair. Their
only loss came to Bishop Kelly’s two-time state boys’ doubles champions Bryant
Jones and Jake Berricochoa by scores of 6-2, 6-4.
