Pinewood Prep falls short in state championship match

Tennis

WALTERBORO — There wasn't a magical comeback this time to bail out Pinewood Prep against Hilton Head Prep in the SCISA Class AAA boys' tennis state championship match on Tuesday.

Hilton Head Prep (11-2) stared down the pressure this time with hard-nosed tennis to post a 6-3 victory over the Panthers (16-4).

Although the stage was set for a repeat of last year's final when the Dolphins also nailed down decisions in the first four singles positions to take a 4-2 lead into doubles, this time Hilton Head's No. 1 team of super sophomores Nicky Kunz and Mo Hookaylo played aggressive power tennis in turning back Pinewood sophomore Josh Klingenberg and junior Ladson Fishburne, 6-2, 6-2, to clinch the fifth point and the state title.

Kunz admitted that he was thinking about last year's final in which Klingenberg and Jeremiah Dye rallied from a set down in the decisive No. 1 doubles match to give Pinewood a 5-4 victory. "When we were up, we decided not to lose the lead again," said Kunz, who also scored a 6-2, 6-1 win over Klingenberg in No. 1 singles.

Hookaylo, a big-hitting and serving left-hander, took care of Pinewood senior captain Scott Hayes, 6-1, 6-2, in No. 2 singles.

Pinewood's Nos. 5 and 6 players, sixth-grader Adam Elliget and freshman William Wert, posted convincing victories to do their job at the bottom of the lineup.

But the keys to the match were the middle two positions, especially No. 4 where Pinewood Prep freshman JT Elliget held 8-2 and 9-5 leads against Hilton Head junior Joey Ryan in a third-set match tiebreaker, but wasted the quadruple match point and then double-faulted a fifth match point away. Ryan won two points later, 6-2, 2-6, 12-10, as JT Elliget committed a pair of backhand errors.

Hilton Head eighth-grader Hunter Mitchell, who attended Porter-Gaud the last seven years, celebrated his 15th birthday by holding off Pinewood freshman Jacob Cumbie, 6-3, 6-4, at No. 3 singles.

"Undefeated in singles (for the year) and winning the state, and I get my driver's permit tomorrow . . . I couldn't have a better birthday," Mitchell said.

The biggest bright spot for Pinewood Prep was that Adam Elliget closed out a perfect season in both singles and doubles as he teamed with Hayes to take the No. 3 doubles point, the Panthers' lone win in doubles.

Only BE remains

Region 6-AA champion Bishop England (13-2) is the only area high school tennis team still in the running for a state title after Tuesday's triple fall by area teams.

The Bishops, however, face a supreme challenge against defending state champion Waccamaw today in a 4 p.m. battle at Mount Pleasant's Whipple Road tennis complex for the Class AA-A lower state boys' title.

Waccamaw has ended the Bishops' season the last four years in the state playoffs, and already owns a 6-1 win over the Bishops this season.

Both Region 8-AAAA champion Summerville and 7-AAAA top seed Berkeley failed to win a match in Class AAAA state quarterfinal matchups on Tuesday. Spring Valley rolled up a 6-0 win over Summerville (15-4) on the Green Wave's home courts, while defending state champion West Florence (20-3) powered to a 6-0 romp past Berkeley (15-3).

Spring Valley's only two losses this season were to West Florence, and they will meet again Thursday in Columbia for the lower state title.

"I'm pretty happy with our team," said Summerville coach Bryant McKee. "We've got everyone back next year."

Summerville's final score was a bit misleading in that the Green Wave took Nos. 4 and 5 singles (freshman Luke Westbury and sophomore Mason Taylor) to third-set match tiebreakers as well as No. 2 doubles.

Reach James Beck at jdbeck@postandcourier.com or 937-5540.