Polson’s Cassie Carlyle showed plenty of grit, courage and competitiveness in Friday’s girls singles championship match with Ceeara Staiger of Glendive at the Class A state tennis tournament.

Still, that wasn’t quite enough.

“I wanted to win the match, but I wanted to play good tennis and make her fight for the win,” Carlyle said.

And fight Staiger did for a tough 6-2, 6-4 victory.

Staiger used a strong start to claim the first set, but still had to deal with a stubborn Carlyle, who refused to go away.

Carlyle, fifth at state last year in doubles, advanced to the final by dispensing with Whitefish’s Paint Intasuk 7-5, 6-4 in the semifinals earlier in the day at Flathead Valley Community College.

On Thursday, Carlyle quickly took care of Emma Pickett of Corvallis 6-0, 6-1 and Brittney Schaff of Harding 6-2, 6-1.

“I didn’t think I’d get to the championship match at state,” Carlyle, a senior, said.

“My goal (at the beginning of the season) was to win divisionals.”

She did that on May 18th in Polson, stopping Molly Schmitt in the final 6-2, 6-0.

“I was happy with the seeding (for state),” Carlyle said.

Even though Intasuk was in her bracket.

“Twice,” she said of beating her Whitefish rival this spring.

“I was a little more nervous (this time) because Paint was the most competitive, next to the Glendive girl, player I’ve had.”

Staiger kept Carlyle away from the net and made her work from the back line. Both had many long, entertaining volleys.

“She lobs a lot,” Carlyle said of Staiger.

“She was pretty aggressive. She had a pretty good serve.”

Staiger worked the whole court, forcing Carlyle to make some difficult returns at times. One of those featured Carlyle chasing down a shot deep in her end of the court and returning it over her head as she faced the back line. The shot dropped perfectly and the volley continued.

“Her lobs a few times made me run into the fence,” she said.

“I was happy with my play,” she continued.

She said the one drawback was “I dropped my slice into the net a lot.”

Carlyle did lead in the crucial second set — 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 before giving way.

Polson finished fourth in the girls and boys final standings.

The girls had 18 points, two behind third-place Dillon.

Billings Central and Glendive tied for first with 26 points each. The last match of the day decided that outcome as Emma Putnam of Billings Central beat Olivia Fehr of Corvallis to finish fifth.

Defending team champion Whitefish was fifth with 15 points.

Intasuk beat Madisan Chavez of Hardin 6-3, 6-2 to finish third.

Polson’s Olivia Hewston and Kyler Lundeen topped Whitefish’s Paige Sproul and Cailyn Ross for fifth and sixth 6-0, 6-4.

Tess Sawyer and Adrianne Southam of Dillon claimed the doubles title.

In boys play, Billings Central, 20, claimed the title with Hardin, 17, second and Dillon, 16, third.

Polson, 12, was fifth.

Simon Marshall of Billings Central defeated Alex Raymond in the singles final 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Polson’s Colin Kenney was sixth.

Darnell Lefthand and Michael Nesser of Hardin survived a wild doubles final, beating Jake Sedhal and Nate Korb of Havre 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5).

Matt Sitter and Cadis Chowning of Polson placed fifth, besting teammates Jorgan Morgan and Kaiden Forman-Webster 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

Class A State Tournament

Friday

At Flathead Valley Community College, Kalispell

BOYS

Team Scores — Billings Central 20, Hardin 17, Dillon 16, Havre 14, Polson 12, Glendive 11, Belgrade 7, Whitefish 6, Livingston 2, Lewistown 2, Butte Central 2.

Singles

Semifinals

Simon Marshall, Billings Central, def. Colin Kenney, Polson, 6-2, 6-1; Alex Raymond, Hamilton, def. Jeff Fournier, Belgrade, 6-1, 6-4.

Championship

Marshall def. Raymond 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Loser out

Third Round

Jory Opp, Glendive, def. Eric Holdhusen, Whitefish, 7-5, 6-1; Bradley Rakich, Dillon, def. Danyon Rice, Lewistown, 6-3, 6-1.

Fourth Round

Opp def. Kenney 6-3, 6-4; Rakich def. Fournier 6-2, 6-3.

Fifth Place

Fournier def. Kenney 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

Third Place

Opp def. Rakich 6-3, 6-2.

Doubles

Semifinals

Darnell Lefthand/Michael Neeser, Hardin, def. Matt Sitter/Cadis Chowning, Polson, 6-3. 6-4; Jake Sedahl/Nate Korb, Havre, def. Deven Doughty/Christian Stradley, Miles City, 6-3, 6-4.

Championship

Lefthand/Neeser def. Sedahl/Korb 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5).

Loser out

Third Round

Todd Nordahl/Kyson Wilson, Dillon, def. Jet Campbell/Andrew Nelson, Billings Central, 6-3, 6-1; Jaron Morgan/Kaiden Forman-Webster, Polson, def. Cairo Morton/Jake Pankratz, Billings Central, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.

Fourth Round

Nordahl/Wilson def. Sitter/Chowning 7-5, 6-4; Doughty/Stradley def. Morgan/Forman-Webster 6-0, 6-1.

Fifth Place

Sitter/Chowning def. Morgan/Forman-Webster 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

Third Place

Doughty/Stradley def. Nordahl/Wilson 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.

GIRLS

Team Scores — Glendive 26,, Billings Central 26, Dillon 20, Polson 18, Whitefish 15, Hardin 12, Corvallis 5, Belgrade 3, Butte Central 2, Columbia Falls 1, Lewistown 1, Stevensville 1.

Singles

Semifinals

Ceeara Staiger, Glendive, def. Emma Putnam, Billings Central, 6-0, 6-0; Cassie Carlyle, Polson, def. Paint Intasuk, Whitefish, 7-5, 6-4.

Championship

Staiger def. Carlyle 6-2, 6-4.

Loser out

Third Round

Madisan Chavez, Hardin, def. Hannah Madsen, Whitefish, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1; Olivia Fehr, Corvallis, def. Mariah McClure, Dillon, 6-2, 6-1.

Fourth Round

Chavez def. Putnam 6-4, 6-3; Intasuk def. Fehr 6-0, 6-2.

Fifth Place

Putnam def. Fehr 6-4, 6-2.

Third Place

Intasuk def. Chavez 6-3, 6-2

Doubles

Semifinals

Hailey Keller/Molly Putnam, Billings Central, def. Olivia Hewston/Kyler Lundeen, Polson, 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 7-6 (8-6); Tessa Sawyer/Adrianne Southam, Dillon, def. Kenna Adolph/Blayne Meyer, Billings Central, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.

Championship

Sawyer/Southam def. Keller/Putnam 6-3, 6-4.

Loser out

Third Round

Katrielle Carney/Abby Hill, Glendive, def. Lisa Cai/Maddie Flamm, Hardin, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3; Paige Sproul/Cailyn Ross, Whitefish, def. Abigail Wierda/Paige Stokke, Belgrade, 6-3, 6-3.

Fourth Round

Adolph/Meyer def. Sproul/Ross 2-6, 6-4, 6-4; Carney/Hill def. Hewston/Lundeen 6-4, 6-3.

Fifth Place

Hewston/Lundeen def. Sproul/Ross 6-0, 6-4.

Third Place

Carney/Hill def. Adolph/Meyer 6-4, 7-5.