NHS TENNIS TEAMS PREPARE FOR 6A-CENTRAL TOURNAMENT

Northside and Southside’s tennis players got a sneak preview of the surroundings for next week’s 6A-Central conference tournament. The two city rivals squared off in a conference match Tuesday at the Fort Smith Athletic Club, which will be the site for next week’s tournament. Northside won both the boys and girls matches, which go by the top two seeds in singles and doubles. On the boys side, the Grizzlies took a 3-1 edge. The Lady Bears and Maverick girls split the top two matches, but Northside was awarded the win because it had more game points. “It was a good outing,” Northside coach Martin Hyatt said. “The good thing is we felt like if you come out and do your best and try your best, never give up on a point, then you walk off the court feeling like, ‘I did what I could to win.’ “I felt like coming in (Tuesday), it was definitely an all-out effort to do the best, so overall we’re certainly pleased with their performance (Tuesday).” Hyatt added he has liked the progression he has seen from his relatively young squad. “We’re a young team, and I feel like we’ve gotten better as the year has progressed,” he said. “I also like how the team chemistry has been good for the most part. What you hope to see during the season is do your players progress, and I feel like we can say that each of our players has progressed.” One of Hyatt’s younger players, sophomore and top girls singles seed Kate Files, is on track to finish undefeated for the second straight season entering the state tournament. Files, who went undefeated as a freshman before falling in the 7A title match, raised her record to 13-0 with an 8-1 win against Southside’s top seed, Jordan Cormier. “What’s easy to do when you have the skill level of Kate Files is to become complacent and to rest on your skills,” Hyatt said. “If you don’t have to work hard to beat people, a lot of people don’t work hard, but Kate doesn’t buy into that at all; she still practices harder and longer than probably anybody in the city. “She brings her mental intensity to matches. ... She still comes out and takes care of business.” Northside’s other win in seeded girls play was the Lady Bears’ No. 2 doubles team of Ayden Huckelbury and Anastasia Goodwin, which posted an 8-4 win against Southside’s Abby Harris and Annie Nelligan. Southside’s top-seeded girls doubles team, Mackenzie Shell and Anna Magness, is on track to get the top seed for next week’s conference tournament. Shell and Magness posted an 8-5 win against Northside’s top girls doubles team of Addison McDougal and Mary Alex Cole. After dropping their first conference match to Conway, Shell and Magness have won their other 6A-Central matches to get them in position for possibly securing the top seed at next week’s conference tourney. The other Southside seeded girls win was No. 2 singles Angelina Guevarra, an 8-7 winner against Cate Newcity. On the boys side, Northside’s top two singles players, Will Thames and Kadin Hyatt, won 8-1 and 8-6 against Southside’s Elijah Miller and Zach Bean, respectively. Northside’s other seeded win was the No. 2 doubles team of John Shaver and Will Stites, 8-4, against Jack Kincannon and Parker Ross. Southside’s No. 1 doubles team of Daniel Kiss and Reiter Ahlert won 8-4 against Griffin Huckelbury and Sam Carlisle. “We won quite a bit of matches,” Southside coach Braden Eads said. “Going in from last year with our boys specifically, we lost our top eight boys, so we were in what I would call a rebuilding year, but I still think we have potential. ... I still think we’ve got some kids that can play. “With our girls, we had about half of our girls come back from last year who went to conference and state, so I had high hopes for our girls and I think they did well. We kind of mixed up our doubles teams this year to try and give them the best path possible, and so that was kind of a learning curve there. ... But I think we’re playing pretty good at the right time, we’re playing a lot better now towards the end of the season which is what I’m always looking for.” Also in girls singles, Northside’s Tiffany Propham and Gabby Gaines won 6-1 and 6-0 against Maggie Brown and Layla Kannout, respectively. In girls doubles, Southside’s Ashlyn Roffine and Bennett Raible won 6-4 against Mary Kate Wewers and Caroline Cravens, while Northside’s Jayson Toney and Gracie Weidman won 6-0 against Callie Shannon and Tatum Castaneda, and Northside’s Pacie Passmore and Falina Rajsombath won 8-1 against Mia Nelson and Reagan Christian. Other boys singles results included Southside’s Caden Rahlston, an 8-1 winner against Jack Newcity, and Northside’s Sean King, who won 8-4 against Hudson Clark. Northside also got a boys doubles win as Tommy Calderara and Bryce Hindley posted a 6-2 decision against Jackson Means and Matt Stites. The 6A-Central tournament will start Monday at Fort Smith Athletic Club, and will continue next Tuesday with the finals. Seedings will be determined in a meeting today.

NHS TENNIS TEAMS PREPARE FOR 6A-CENTRAL TOURNAMENT

BUCK RINGGOLD

Times Record | 9/26/2018

PHOTO CREDIT: Brian D. Sanderford