Pinewood rolls into state semis

Tennis

SUMMERVILLE —Pinewood Prep wasted little time in opening defense of its SCISA Class AAA boys' tennis state title Wednesday with a 9-0 blitzing of a St. Joseph's Catholic team that was playing without its top player.

The Panthers (15-3) advanced to a Friday afternoon state semifinal against Hammond of Columbia (12-4) at the Pinewood courts. Pinewood scored a pair of victories over Hammond (7-2 and 6-3) during the regular season.

"We got a big break today because their coach thinks their No. 1 guy could have won two points for them," Pinewood coach Heinz Maurer said.

The Knights made the trip from Greenville without all-stater Jackson DeMere, the runner-up in last week's SCISA state singles tournament. St. Joseph's coach Bill Robertson said, "He just had to miss the trip ... because of school."

Relieved by not having to face DeMere, Pinewood sophomore Josh Klingenberg waltzed to a 6-1, 6-1 victory at No. 1 singles over Alan Thomas.

Klingenberg is one of three Pinewood players on the SCISA all-state team.

Junior Ladson Fishburne and sixth-grader Adam Elliget also represented the Panthers on the all-state team, while Maurer was named coach of the year.

Bruner player of year

Palmetto Christian's Don Bruner was named SCISA's player of the year. Bruner, a junior who has led Palmetto Christian to back-to-back Class A titles, won last week's state singles tournament. He also was named to the all-state team.

Freshman Charlie Baker joined Richard Pearce, a senior, on the all-state team from Porter-Gaud.

Palmetto Christian playing for title

Palmetto Christian is in Sumter today in search of its third straight SCISA Class A boys' state title. The Eagles will oppose Aiken Prep in one of the 10:30 a.m. semifinals, with the winner advancing to an afternoon state championship match against the Cambridge Academy-Lowcountry Day winner.

--Porter-Gaud (14-1) is hoping for a better fate this afternoon against Hilton Head Prep in the SCISA Class AAA semifinals than it had last year in the same round. The site is the same as last year when the host Dolphins prevailed. Today's 3:30 p.m. match will be played on the clay courts of Hilton Head's Windmill Harbour.

--Berkeley and Summerville will play home matches this afternoon in the second round of the Class AAAA boys' state playoffs.

Berkeley (14-2), the Region 7-AAAA top seed, will play host to Dutch Fork, while 8-AAAA champion Summerville (14-3) will entertain 7-AAAA third seed Stratford. Wando (9-4), the 7-AAAA second seed, plays at Spring Valley, a top seed.