Lake City's Ness, Finney capture boys doubles crown

BOISE - Three weeks ago, Lake City seniors Luke Ness and Matt Finney weren't sure if the best path to a state 5A championship could come as individuals in singles, or as a doubles team.

At state, they took the path as a team, beating a team from Boise in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 to capture the state 5A boys doubles championship at the Appleton Tennis Complex in Boise.

"It's awesome and unbelievable," Ness said. "It's crazy. Coming into this weekend, I thought we had a good chance to win. We just believed in each other and played unbelievable the last two days."

"It feels great," Finney said. "Like nothing I've ever felt before. We worked so hard for it. It just feels great. Both of us had really good serves and overall, we just worked well together."

"They kept their focus, kept attacking," said Lake City boys coach Tim Scott, who said Ness and Finney were down a break early in each set. They broke back at 4-4 in each set, closing out the first set on Ness' serve, closing out the match on Finney's serve.

"They showed a lot of grit," Scott said.

Boise won the boys and Idaho Falls the girls team championships.

4A: Sandpoint brothers Drew and Micah Buckmiller lost 6-4, 6-2 to Blackfoot in the boys doubles consolation bracket at the 4A tournament at Capital High in Boise.

Wood River won the boys team title, while Century edged Bonneville by a half point for the girls championship.

3A: Clark Fork seniors Brocklynn Thornton and Claire McMahon cruised past a team from Deary 6-0, 6-0 in the consolation bracket, before falling 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to a team from Fruitland in the consolation semifinals at Vallivue High in Caldwell.

Even in defeat, the pair earned the respect of head coach Mary Jo Lambert, whose 1A Wampus Cats held their own against much bigger schools.

"It was the best those two have ever played in four years," said Lambert of McMahon and Thornton's three-set loss. "They were rushing the net on their serves, placing the ball, and playing the way I always knew they could. I'm extremely proud of them."

Coeur d'Alene Charter's Mindi Grantham lost in her opening consolation bracket match on Saturday.

Community School (boys) and Fruitland (girls) won team championships.

BOYS TEAM SCORES - 1, Boise 43.5. 2, Capital 34. 3, Eagle 23.5. 4, Lake City 20. 5, Timberline 19. 6, Highland 11. 7 (tie), Lewiston, Rocky Mountain 7.5. 9, Borah 7. 10, Mountain View 4. 11, Idaho Falls 3.5. 12, Centennial 3. 13 (tie), Post Falls, Meridian 1.5. 15, Vallivue 1. 16 (tie), Coeur d'Alene, Skyline 0.

GIRLS TEAM SCORES - 1, Idaho Falls 44.5. 2, Boise 40.5. 3, Eagle 29.5. 4, Mountain View 18. 5, Timberline 9. 6, Lewiston 8.5. 7, Highland 8. 8, Rocky Mountain 7.5. 9, Coeur d'Alene 6. 10, Vallivue 5. 11, Centennial 4. 12, Meridian 2.5. 13 (tie), Capital, Lake City 2. 15, Post Falls 0.5. 16 (tie), Borah, Skyline 0.

BOYS DOUBLES - Semifinals: Luke Ness/Matt Finney, Lake City, d. Gillett/Brash, Boise, 6-0, 6-2. Finals: Ness/Finney, Lake City, d. Ryan/Parker, Boise, 6-4, 6-4.

GIRLS SINGLES - Consolation: Caitlin McHugh, Coeur d'Alene, d. Elsa Hansen, Lewiston, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. Semifinals: Madeline Saunders, Timberline, d. McHugh, Coeur d'Alene, 6-2, 6-0.

GIRLS DOUBLES - Consolation: Jacobs/Souhrada, Eagle, d. Sonja Jacobson/Lexi Carlsen, Coeur d'Alene, 6-4, 6-4; Gregory/Kingston, Vallivue, d. Maggie Heidenreich/Hailey Little, Lake City, 6-1, 7-6 (3).

BOYS TEAM SCORES - 1, Wood River 51. 2, Bishop Kelly 22. 3, Columbia 18. 4, Blackfoot 17.5. 5, Hillcrest 16.5. 6, Twin Falls 16. 7, Century 14.5. 8, Madison 10. 9, Sandpoint 8. 10, Nampa 5. 11, Skyview 4. 12 (tie), Emmett, Kuna 2. 14, Burley 1. 15 (tie), Bonneville, Caldwell, Canyon Ridge, Jerome, Minico, Moscow, Mountain Home, Pocatello 0.

GIRLS TEAM SCORES - 1, Century 36.5. 2, Bonneville 36. 3, Bishop Kelly 22. 4, Skyview 21. 5, Caldwell 14. 6 (tie), Wood River, Madison 11. 8, Blackfoot 10.5. 9, Pocatello 9. 10, Twin Falls 4. 11 (tie), Canyon Ridge, Sandpoint 3. 13, Columbia 2. 14 (tie), Kuna, Minico, Nampa 1. 18, Hillcrest 0.5. 19 (tie), Emmett, Jerome, Moscow, Mountain Home 0.

BOYS DOUBLES - Consolation: Cannon/Cannon, Blackfoot, d. Drew Buckmiller/Micah Buckmiller, Sandpoint, 7-5, 3-6, 7-6.

BOYS TEAM SCORES - 1, Community School 62.5. 2, Parma 45.5. 3, Fruitland 35. 4, Payette 16. 5, Weiser 9. 6, Grangeville 6. 7, Gooding 4. 8 (tie), Clark Fork, Clearwater Valley, 2.5. 10, Deary 2. 11 (tie), Coeur d'Alene Charter, Kamiah 1. 13, Sugar-Salem 0.5. 14, Homedale 0.

GIRLS TEAM SCORES - 1, Fruitland 83. 2, Parma 45.5. 3, Community School 23.5. 4, Payette 6. 5, Weiser 6. 6, Clark Fork 5.5. 7, Grangeville 5. 8, Coeur d'Alene Charter 4. 9, Deary 3. 10, Gooding 2. 11, Clearwater Valley 1.5. 12 (tie), Homedale, Kamiah 1. 14, Sugar-Salem 0.5.

GIRLS SINGLES - Consolation: Sydney Hagenbuch, Community School, d. Mindi Grantham, Coeur d'Alene Charter, 6-0, 3-6, 6-1.

GIRLS DOUBLES - Consolation: Brocklynn Thornton/Claire McMahon, Clark Fork, d. Workman/Hofford, Deary, 6-7, 6-0, 7-5. Semifinals: Farmer/Teunissen, Fruitland, d. Thornton/McMahon, Clark Fork, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.