By Rubin E. Grant
Spain Park boys tennis coach Calvin Ganus said the Jaguars always enter the season with one aspiration.
“Hanging a championship banner is always the goal,” Ganus said.
The Jags didn’t get a chance to pursue a title last year after the 2020 season was shut down in March because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
There was nothing to stop the Jags this spring. They won all of their dual matchups during the regular season while finishing with a 14-2 record.
Spain Park didn’t let up in the state tournament, capturing the Alabama High School Athletic Association State Tennis Championships Class 7A title two weeks ago in Montgomery at Lagoon Park. The championship was just the second state title in school history and the first since winning the Class 6A boys crown in 2007.
The Jags captured two singles and two doubles finals to finish with 43 points. Hoover and Huntsville tied for second place with 34 points each.
“It was a whole team effort,” Ganus said. “We have eight seniors and a lot of depth. We felt we could have won it last year and we had everybody returning except for one. I knew going in as long as we played our game, we could win.”
Jags senior Jake Wilson won the No. 1 singles title and senior John Kendrick won at No. 5. Spain Park also won the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles championship. Wilson, who is headed to the University of the South, teamed with junior Walker Jackson to claim the No. 2 doubles crown. Sophomores Brenton Cate and Sam Wasko won at No. 3 doubles.
Wilson beat Bob Jones’ Parker Free 6-1, 6-2 in the No. 1 singles final, a remarkable feat considering how he began the tournament and that he had to face his nemesis, Hoover’s Sam Tolbert. Wilson beat Tolbert 6-4, 7-5 in the semifinals.
“The Hoover kid had beaten him four times during the season, and Jake had to go through the play-in match,” Ganus said. “And then he had to beat Auburn’s No. 1 (Tanner Debardelaben). Beating the Hoover kid was amazing and that set him up for the Bob Jones kid in the finals.”
Kendrick defeated Auburn’s Jisung Choo 6-4, 6-4 to win the No. 5 singles final.
Hoover’s Isaac Hwangpo won No. 2 singles, defeating Auburn’s Sunghun Cho 7-6 (9-7), 6-7 (5-7), 10-6.
The Jags’ Jackson lost in the No. 6 final, falling 6-0, 6-1 to Huntsville’s Logan Thomas.
In the No. 2 doubles final, Wilson and Jackson defeated Hoover’s Hwangpo and Andrew Pierson 6-4, 6-3.
In the No. 3 doubles final, Cate and Wasko defeated Huntsville’s Thomas and Jacob Corrigan 6-1, 6-2.
Hoover’s Gavin Patton and Roshan Chavar teamed to win the No. 1 doubles final, defeating Huntsville’s Connor Jiminez and John Lusk 3-6, 6-2, 10-2.
Rebel Girls Lose Playoff
Auburn’s girls beat Vestavia Hills in a playoff to claim the girls Class 7A state title.
The two teams were tied at the end of the regular competition with 30 points each while Florence and Hoover deadlocked for third place with 27 points. Fairhope and Huntsville tied for fifth with 22 points each, and Oak Mountain had 14.
The Tigers and Rebels squared off in the best-of-three playoff consisting of two singles and one doubles match, with Auburn winning a singles and doubles to capture the school’s first AHSAA state tennis crown.
Before the playoff, Auburn won two singles titles and one doubles title. Camilla Bosman won at No. 3 singles, defeating Vestavia Hills’ Della Tarn 6-4, 6-2. Auburn’s Kathryn Kirkland won at No. 5, defeating the Rebels’ Ella Clae Fulton 6-2, 6-4.
Vestavia Hills’ Lynly Threadcraft won No. 2 singles, defeating Huntsville’s Missy Hartwig.
Oak Mountain’s Grace Quian captured the No. 1 singles crown, defeating Vestavia Hills’ Cindy Jiang 6-4, 6-1.
Hoover’s Chinonye Mbanugo won at No. 6, defeating Florence’s Mattie Pharr 6-3, 6-1.
Hoover also won No. 2 doubles with Mbanugo and Sara Lopez, defeating Florence’s Isabel Davis and Kaitlyn Daniel 2-6, 6-2, 10-7.
In the No. 3 doubles final, Hoover’s Arya Tamhane and Kristina Hwangpo lost to Florence’s Anna Holway and Emma Walker 6-3, 4-6, 11-9.
