Sagemont boys’ beat Ransom Everglades to advance in semifinals at state tennis
Sagemont’s boys’ tennis team has counted on every member of its lineup to deliver in the clutch this season.
With a tough best-of-7 quarterfinal match against Ransom Everglades Wednesday on the line, Lions’ No. 1 singles player Christopher Tasker answered the call for his team.
“Chris played an unbelievable tiebreaker to win and push us through,” Sagemont coach Steven Browne said. “We have a lot of seniors on this team and they want to put together a big finish to end their high school careers.”
After Sagemont and Ransom split six matches, Tasker’s 6-4, 2-6, 10-6 victory over Ransom’s John Michael Holtmann propelled Sagemont to Thursday’s semifinal round and a step closer to repeating as Class 1A state championships.
As part of the state’s new format, the Lions will take on Port St. Lucie Morningside in the semifinal round and should they advance play either Tampa Prep or Pensacola Catholic in the finals.
Sagemont is seeking its fourth state title overall since 2011 and what would be its first back-to-back state championships.
“I don’t mind the format the only unfortunate thing is having two of the strongest teams in the entire bracket meet in the first round,” Browne said. “After we split the doubles, we recuperated as a team and jumped ahead a break in each [singles] match so that was huge for us.”
Antonio Mora won his No. 2 singles match for Ransom and teamed up with Holtmann to win at No. 1 doubles. These wins along with Grant Dill’s victory at No. 4 gave the Raiders a chance.
But Ignacio Martinez and Austin Debruyne won at No. 2 doubles and Martinez scored a big win at No. 3 singles that followed by Luis Marcano’s win at No. 5 to set up Tasker’s tiebreaker.
It was a tough day overall for Ransom as its girls lost 4-2 in the quarterfinals to Boca St. Andrew’s.
No. 1 singles player Heather Boehm won her match and teamed with Vivien Fernandez at No. 1 doubles to win as well, but the Raiders couldn’t overcome the Scots in any other division.
CLASS 3A
Miami-Dade County teams did not fare any better in the Class 3A competition as Doral Academy’s boys and Terra’s girls lost their respective quarterfinal matches.
Doral, which had advanced to state as a team for the first time, went the distance against Jensen Beach before losing 4-3. After splitting the doubles round, the Firebirds got victories from Julio Luque at No. 4 singles and Atilio Sanchez at No. 5, but could not overcome Jensen Beach’s top three.
Doral Academy did, however, have top girls’ player Bin Zheng advance to the semifinals individually after she won her two matches on Wednesday.
Terra, a state runner-up last season in Class 3A, was swept 5-0 by West Boca Raton.
INDIVIDUALS
South Florida had several other individuals advance to the semifinal round.
In addition to Zheng in Class 3A, Mourning’s Tom Jaworski advanced in both singles and doubles along with partner Santiago Uribe following lopsided wins. The two will square off against Belen Jesuit’s doubles team of Daniel Martinez and Carlos Grande in Thursday’s semifinals after the Wolverines’ top players cruised through the quarterfinals.
In Class 1A, Riviera Prep’s Sara Culbertson advanced to the semifinals in both singles and doubles, along with Nicole Katzarkov, with comfortable victories.
Chaminade-Madonna’s Jorge Cervantes won a tough three-set match 6-3, 1-6, 12-10 over All Saints Academy’s Holleman Hughes in singles, and then advanced in doubles with partner Gianluca Stever.
Westminster Academy’s Mackenzy Middlebrooks won two singles matches to advance to the semifinals in singles. Hers and Cayla Coningsby’s opening round doubles match was moved to Thursday morning at 8 a.m.
For results for Dade and Broward teams, visit miamiherald.com/high-schools
Andre C. Fernandez: 305-376-4997, @AndreMHsports
WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS
Class 1A boys’ team quarterfinal – Sagemont 4, Ransom Everglades 3 – No. 1 Christopher Tasker (S) d. John Michael Holtmann (RE) 6-4, 2-6, 10-6; No. 2: Antonio Mora (RE) d. Austin Debruyne (S) 4-6, 6-4, 10-8; No. 3: Ignacio Martinez (S) d. Samuel Rubell (RE) 6-2, 6-3; No. 4: Grant Dill (RE) d. Andres Hernandez (S) 6-4, 6-3; No. 5: Luis Marcano (S) d. Patrick Visan (RE) 6-2, 6-0; No. 1 doubles: Holtmann/Mora (RE) d. Marcano/Tasker (S) 6-2, 6-3; No. 2: Debruyne/Martinez (S) d. Dill/Rubell (RE) 6-2, 6-4.
Class 1A girls’ team quarterfinal – Boca St. Andrew’s 4, Ransom Everglades 2 – No. 1 singles: Heather Boehm (RE) d. Olivia Martinez (SA) 6-3, 6-1; No. 2: Lola Grosjean (SA) d. Vivien Fernandez (RE) 6-0, 2-6, 10-8; No. 4: Alisa Finger (S) d. Sophie Bullard (RE) 6-2, 6-0; No. 5: Isabel Forster (SA) d. Sofia Debayle (RE) 6-1, 6-2; No. 1 doubles: Boehm/Fernandez (RE) d. Anastasia Karpacheva/Martinez (SA) 6-3, 6-2; No. 2: Bullard/Marina Pataro (RE) d. Forster/Grosjean (SA) 7-5, 6-2.
Class 1A boys’ individual singles - Quarterfinals: Jorge Cervantes (Chaminade) d. Holleman Hughes (All Saints) 6-3, 1-6, 12-10.
Class 1A girls’ individual singles – Round of 16: Consuela Van Grinsven (Morningside) d. Julia-Rose Siegler (Miami Country Day) 4-6, 7-6 (2), 10-6; Mackenzy Middlebrooks (Westminster Academy) d. Marcela Ifju (PK Yonge) 6-4, 6-2; Quarterfinals: Middlebrooks (WA) d. Annalise Klopfer (Clearwater Central Catholic) 6-2, 5-7, 10-3; Sara Culbertson (Riviera Prep) d. Olivia Jablonski (Citrus Park Christian) 6-2, 6-1.
Class 1A boys’ individual doubles – quarterfinals: Cervantes/Gianluca Stever (Chaminade) d. Quinn Fender/Dylan Green (Oxbridge), 6-4, 6-3.
Class 1A girls’ individual doubles – Round of 16: Kiara Castro-Birriel/Esther Eddy (Providence) d. Manoela Villela de Quadros/Regina Guimaraes (Chaminade) 6-3, 6-4; Quarterfinals: Culbertson/Nicole Katzarkov (Riviera Prep) d. Castro-Birriel/Eddy (Providence) 6-1, 6-1.
Class 3A boys’ team quarterfinal – Jensen Beach 4, Doral 3 – No. 1 singles: Colter Decoste (JB) d. Felipe Hidalgo (D) 6-4, 7-6 (2); No. 2: Avery Davis (JB) d. Sebastian Serrano (D) 6-3, 0-6, 10-7; No. 3: Zack Walker (JB) d. Leonardo Porcella (D) 6-1, 5-0 default; No. 4: Julio Luque (D) d. Kyle Reich (JB) 6-3, 6-1; No. 5: Atilio Sanchez (D) d. Michael Sciarrino (JB) 7-5, 6-4; No. 1 doubles: Davis/Decoste (JB) d. Hidalgo/Serrano (D) 6-1, 6-2; No. 2: Luque/Porcella (D) d. Reich/Walker (JB) 6-2, 6-3.
Class 3A girls’ team quarterfinal – West Boca Raton 5, Terra 0 – No. 1 singles: Anna Bright (WB) d. Sophia Adams (T) 6-0, 6-2; No. 3: Allyson Nerf (WB) d. Valeria Flandes (T) 6-1, 6-1; No. 4: Eden Sela (WB) d. Nicole Cinquino (T) 6-2, 6-0; No. 1 doubles: Bright/Ja’cara Gillis (WB) d. Adams/Michelle Adan-Pol (T) 6-2, 6-1; No. 2: Nerf/Sela (WB) d. Cinquino/Genie Hernandez (T) 6-1, 6-2.
Class 3A boys’ individual singles – Round of 16: Daniel Martinez (Belen) d. Victor Lopez (Harmony) 6-2, 6-0; Quarterfinals: John Carlin (Fort Myers) d. Martinez (Bel) 6-0, 7-5; Tom Jaworski (ATM) d. Noe Cavallini (Atlantic Coast) 6-0, 6-3
Class 3A boys’ individual doubles - quarterfinals: Carlos Grande/Martinez (Bel) d. Joel Boles/Hayden Essary (Gulf Breeze) 6-3, 6-2; Jaworski/Santiago Uribe (ATM) d. Martin Gutierrez/Chad Thomas (Bartram Trail), 6-2, 6-0.
Class 3A girls’ individual singles – Round of 16: Bin Zheng (Doral) d. Jillian Hobbs (Fort Walton Beach) 6-1, 6-1; Katherine Jakeway (Nease) d. Karla Mendez (Pines Charter) 7-6 (4), 6-2; Quarterfinals: Zheng (Doral) d. Payton Andrews (Dixie Hollins) 6-2, 6-2.
Class 3A girls’ individual doubles quarterfinals: Anna McDonald/Paige Nicholson (Lincoln) d. Mendez/Samantha Barea (PPC), 6-0, 6-2.
This story was originally published April 13, 2016 at 10:16 PM with the headline "Sagemont boys’ beat Ransom Everglades to advance in semifinals at state tennis."