Tennis has gotten a jump on the other spring sports in bestowing hardware.

The fun began last weekend when conference champions were crowned in doubles play.

The singles tournament is underway and the team tournament starts Tuesday of next week.

Doubles

Cape Elizbeth had a stranglehold on the Western Maine Conference boys’ doubles championship as Mike Mills and Sam Sherman beat Eli Breed and Luke Gilman in the final, 6-4, 6-3.

Scarborough’s Katie Wahrer and Maria Philbrick got to the SMAA girls’ doubles finals, but lost to Portland’s Kayla Berg and Lily Bruenjes, in a compelling match, 4-6, 7-5, 8-10.

Singles

The singles tournament began last week with the Region 5 first and qualifying rounds.

Cape Elizabeth’s Matthew Gilman, Peter Higgins and Satchel McCarthy all advanced.

Gilman beat Matthew Livermore of Portland, 8-1, and Windham’s Brandon Currier, 6-0, 6-0. Higgins ousted Portland’s Jonny Gatti, 8-0, and Yarmouth’s Sam Beaulieu, 6-0, 6-0. McCarthy downed Sanford’s Forrest Baily, 8-0, and Ryan Gilbert of Gorham, 6-1, 6-4.

Falling short were Scarborough’s Roy Garland (who won his first match, 8-0, over Lake Region’s Austin Kaeser before losing, 0-6, 0-6 to No. 12 Victor Menezes of Thornton Academy), Scarborough’s Jeffrey Sirocki (the No. 14 seed, who beat Cheverus’ George Budri, 8-2, before being upset, 2-6, 2-6, by David Bresnahan of York), South Portland’s Ben Burkey (an 8-2 winner over Greely’s Liam Dougherty before falling, 0-6, 1-6 to No. 13 Milan Vidovic of Gorham), Scarborough’s Kane Corbeau (0-8 to No. 2 Patrick Ordway of Waynflete), South Portland’s Tanner Hyland (0-8 to Sam Holland of Falmouth) and South Portland’s Ian Mitchell (0-8 to Menezes),

On the girls’ side, Cape Elizabeth’s Allie Briggs, seeded 10th, beat Thornton Academy’s Emily Ribaudo, 8-0, and Alex Tebbs of Greely, 6-2, 6-0, to advance. She was joined by unranked Ella Mahoney of Scarborough, an 8-3 winner over Claudia Ouellette of South Portland and a 6-1, 6-3 victor over Sanford’s Misa Mai.

Scarborough’s Mikaela Gove was a 9-7 first round winner over Gorham’s Rachel Eaton, but lost to top-ranked Olivia Leavitt of Falmouth in the qualifying round, 0-6, 0-6. South Portland’s Bri Woodward defeated Westbrook’s Rachel Crawford in a walkover, then was eliminated, 0-6, 2-6, by third-ranked Libby Voccola of Falmouth. Teammate Paige Doane downed Westbrook’s Caitlyn Waldron in a walkover, then lost, 0-6, 1-6, to No. 6 Emily Campbell of York, who had eliminated Cape Elizabeth’s Sarah Bosworth, 8-2, in the first round. Scarborough’s Megan Nathanson advanced via a walkover over Deering’s Ava Koenigsberg, then lost, 1-6, 1-6, to No. 8 Caty Galligan of Cheverus. Cape Elizabeth’s Madeline Ciraldo lost, 1-8, to No. 11 Sophie Hulbert in the first round.

The state singles tournament begins with the first and second rounds Saturday at Lewiston High School. The round of 16 and semifinals are Monday at Bates College in Lewiston and the semifinals and and finals are Wednesday, also at Bates.

For the state tournament, Cape Elizabeth’s Gilman is fourth in the boys’ draw, while Higgins is ranked sixth and McCarthy seventh.

Team tourney

Cape Elizabeth’s boys’ team capped its stellar 12-0 regular season with a 5-0 win at Fryeburg Tuesday. It appears the Capers will be ranked second behind Lincoln Academy in the final Western Class B Heal Points standings, meaning Cape Elizabeth will likely have to battle two-time defending state champion Falmouth in the semifinal round. In Western A, Scarborough was eighth at press time with a 7-5 record. The Red Storm will likely host Cheverus in the preliminary round. Despite finishing 3-9 with an eight-game skid, South Portland held the 10th and final spot and will likely go to Biddeford for a prelim.

On the girls’ side, Scarborough wound up second to Portland (the only team to beat it in the regular season) in Western A with an 11-1 record. The Red Storm closed with a 5-0 home win over South Portland, which finished 4-8 and likely in the 10th spot. The Red Riots will either go to McAuley or Sanford in the preliminary round. In Western B, Cape Elizabeth finished 10-2 and will wind up anywhere from second to fourth, meaning at least one home match.

The playoffs begin Tuesday of next week with the preliminary round. The quarterfinals are May 30 and semifinals June 1. Each of those rounds will feature the higher seeded team as host. The regional finals are June 5, at Bates. The state championship matches are June 8, at the University of Maine in Orono.

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.

Sidebar Elements


Cape Elizabeth’s (left to right) Mike Mills and Sam Sherman, coach Andy Strout and Eli Breed and Luke Gilman monopolized the hardware at last weekend’s Western Maine Conference boys doubles tennis tournament, as Mills and Sherman defeated Breed and Gilman to win the crown, 6-4, 6-3.


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