LEWISTON — Lewiston High wanted to be the giant-killer but still enjoyed the celebration Saturday, hoisting the trophy after defeating Scarborough 5-0 for the Class A girls’ tennis state championship.
In the boys’ match, Falmouth won its third straight title and fourth in five years with a 3-2 victory against Camden Hills in a rematch of last year’s state final.
Lewiston (16-0), which won the title for the first time since 2011, wanted a rematch of last season, when it lost to powerhouse Falmouth. But Scarborough upset the Yachtsmen in the South final Thursday, ending the Yachtsmen’s 187-match winning streak that extended to 2008.
“We kept saying we were going to play Falmouth (again) in the final,” Maddy Foster of Lewiston said. “We definitely wanted to be the ones to beat Falmouth, but we’ll take the state title.”
It was Lewiston’s 13th title under Coach Anita Murphy – Falmouth was in Class B until 2014.
“My girls showed up, played hard,” Red Storm Coach Lincoln MacIsaac said. “Lewiston came out strong. (Murphy) has classy kids who play great tennis.”
The Blue Devils bolted from the start. They quickly won the No. 2 doubles, Jillian Pelletier and Lauren Foster taking a 6-2, 6-2 decision. In the No. 2 singles, Abby Svor topped Carrie Timpson 6-2, 6-1 in a match that took longer than the score indicated. Next to them, Scarborough’s No. 3, Kellie Guerette, took a 5-4 lead in the first set, but Foster rallied to win three straight games, and the next set as well, for a 7-5, 6-1 victory.
“All mentality. I needed to not get into my own head,” Foster said.
Foster’s win clinched the state championship. With the title decided, a tiebreaker was played in No. 1 doubles after the teams split the first two sets. Lewiston won the tiebreaker 10-7. The No. 1 singles match began after the others. Julia Svor topped Abby Ricker 6-2, 6-1, completing the sweep against the Red Storm (13-2).
“I don’t think (there was a letdown),” MacIsaac said. “It was great to beat Falmouth, but we let that go pretty quickly because we knew coming up here, we were facing a juggernaut.”
Speaking of juggernauts, the Falmouth boys (16-0) grabbed another title. These Yachtsmen weren’t as deep as previous seasons and the Windjammers (14-1) had hoped to sweep the doubles – which they did – and steal a singles win.
Falmouth’s No. 2, Matthew Ray, won easily, 6-2, 6-2. No. 1 Nick Forester, who would play later, was heavily favored. That left it up to Calvin Spencer in the No. 3 singles for the Yachtsmen.
“I was incredibly nervous,” Spencer said. “I knew it might come down to me and it was definitely on my mind during the match. I just had to suppress it and go one point at a time.”
Spencer lost the first set to Charlie O’Brien, 3-6, then rallied for win the next two, 6-3, 6-2.
Forester, a two-time individual state champion, heard the cheers.
“I didn’t really feel confident until Calvin won,” Forester said. “I knew I could close it out. “
Forester topped Ezra LeMole, 6-2, 6-0.
“I wanted to finish my senior year with a win with this team,” said Forester, who will play for Bates College next year. “This year was so much different than past years. We had to recruit players to play … I had more of a captain’s role. It might mean a little more to win with this group.”
Camden Hills’ doubles winners were Simon Fedarko and David Pautasse at No. 1, and Zack Markowitz and Jack Lawrence at No. 2.
The match was scheduled for 4:15 p.m., then moved up to 12:15 because Camden Hills held its prom Saturday night. But the earlier time meant Windjammers Coach Jesse Simko missed the match. He’s also a hockey coach and is a member of USA Hockey, which held meetings in Colorado. Simko flew back Saturday but arrived with only a few minutes left in the final match.
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