Published: October 11, 2008 11:10 pm         

North boys tennis shocked at semistate

JASPER — Terre Haute North had every reason to believe it was the favored team Saturday in the Jasper Semistate for boys high school tennis.

Which made it all the more stunning when the 10th-ranked Patriots lost 4-1 in their semifinal match against 16th-ranked Floyd Central, a team whose nine losses were nearly twice as many as the rest of the semistate field combined.

“We were the top-ranked team [at the semistate],” said North’s Michael Eberle, after teaming with his fellow senior Drew Holcomb for a win at No. 1 doubles that kept that pair alive for further state competition. “We had the confidence we were going to go in and win.”

“I thought we could win [the semistate], go all the way to the state [finals] and do fairly well there,” added Todd Butwin.

“This is not what I expected,” summarized Drew Holcomb.

In some ways, Saturday’s match was similar to the sectional final a week earlier — but with roles reversed as far as the Patriots were concerned.

This time it was the Highlanders who won quickly, much as the Patriots had done against Terre Haute South. Floyd Central won the first set in four of the five matches, and took narrow leads at some point in all five of the second sets.

Floyd Central got its first point at No. 2 singles, senior Adam Struble winning three of the last four games to pull away from North freshman Nick Roby 6-3, 6-3.

On the adjoining court, Butwin was already trailing 5-2 in his second set to Floyd Central’s Joe Boesing. Butwin held serve to pull within 5-3, but couldn’t get the necessary break to prolong that match. Now North trailed 2-0.

At No. 3 singles, North freshman Chris Holcomb was in the process of winning the last three games of his second set against Floyd Central senior Geordie Crone, and North’s No. 1 doubles team was neck-and-neck with its Floyd Central opponents. But before the Patriots could put themselves in a position to apply any pressure to their foe, the Highlanders’ Luke Schreiber and Ryan Smith held off North’s Parker Fulkerson and Nate Sanders at No. 2 doubles to clinch the match.

Eberle wound up holding serve at 5-6, and he and Drew Holcomb won the tiebreaker 7-4 to take their match and keep state doubles championship hopes alive. Chris Holcomb, obviously disheartened by North’s team loss, fell 7-5 in his third set to wrap up the scoring.

So how had this happened? Or should the question be how did this experienced Floyd Central team, with eight seniors on its roster, lose nine regular-season matches?

“[The Highlanders] moved some people around [in their lineup], and I think they went up to [Indianapolis] a couple of times and played [and lost to] the really good teams up there,” said coach Jim Cook of the Patriots. “But that’s just the way it goes sometimes. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.”

“I knew the guy I was going to play was pretty good,” Butwin said. “I tried my hardest, but it came out the way it did.

“We’re a little disappointed [as a team]. We played well most of the year; it’s disappointing to have to stop playing now.”

“I don’t think we played our best,” Drew Holcomb said, “but we played hard.”

“I thought we played pretty good,” Eberle said in mild disagreement. “We didn’t do much wrong.”

The latter two players will be idle for a week, then continue in their battle for the doubles championship on Oct. 25.

“I’m sure we’ll have some of these [teammates] practice with us, to keep us ready for the state,” Eberle predicted. Otherwise, he said, “It kind of stinks. I’m happy we got a chance to go to the state, but I’m sad for the team that we didn’t pull through.”

“It’s going to be fun [to continue],” Drew Holcomb said. “We’re going to go in there and fight, and see how far we get.”

“I can’t be disappointed with the season,” said Cook. “We had a lot of young kids [on this year’s team]; we’ll give it another try next year and see what happens.”

“It was a great season,” Butwin concluded. “It’s too bad it had to end now.”

I I I

• Modesitt defeated — At Vincennes, West Vigo senior Joel Modesitt also saw his season end Saturday in a three-set individual sectional match against Evansville Central’s Nick Volz. Volz won that match 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.



Floyd Central 4, Terre Haute North 1

Singles — Joe Boesing (FC) def. Todd Butwin 6-2, 6-3; Adam Struble (FC) def. Nick Roby 6-3, 6-3; Geordie Crone (FC) def. Chris Holcomb 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.

Doubles — Michael Eberle-Drew Holcomb (THN) def. Brad Emerson-Evan Winders 6-4, 7-6 (7-4); Luke Schreiber-Ryan Smith (FC) def. Parker Fulkerson-Nate Sanders 6-3, 7-5.

Next — Floyd Central (13-9) played 12th-ranked Columbus North (16-2) for the semistate championship later Saturday; Columbus North won the first four points of its match against 18th-ranked Castle (19-2). North finished 17-3, and Eberle and Drew Holcomb continue in the individual state doubles tournament.