STATE HIGH SCHOOL TENNIS: Cd'A Judson wins 6A singles title ... Sandpoint's Rickert repeats in 5A girls singles

Coeur d’Alene High senior Connor Judson didn’t flinch on Friday after posting back-to-back 6-0, 6-0 wins to advance to the state 6A boys singles semifinals. 

On Saturday, he picked up where he left off, advancing to the finals with a 6-0, 6-1 win. 

Judson then cruised in the final, leading Randy Li of Timberline 6-2, 5-1 before Li had to medically retire due to cramping. 

“He was battling cramps in his hands the entire match,” said Coeur d’Alene boys coach Corey DeLeonard of Li. “He kept taking breaks to go drink water and we knew it was something he’d been battling. They’d played a good, aggressive point and he started to cramp in his leg so bad he couldn’t stand, so he had to say he was done. Connor really took it out of him.”

Judson won his first two matches at state as a junior, but had to medically default due to appendicitis. 

"I'm super proud of how I competed this weekend and was able to bounce back from last year," Judson said. "It felt really good to come through in a high pressure situation."

Judson’s state title helped secure a runner-up finish for the Coeur d’Alene boys, who finished with 30 points, seven behind champion Timberline, which finished with 37 points. Eagle won the girls team title with 53 points.

"I'm grateful and feel blessed to have been able to have this opportunity to win state this season," said Judson, who has signed with Division III Whitworth. "It was a great way to end my high school tennis career."

“I’m super happy with the boys,” DeLeonard said. “I wasn’t sure if we had enough points to compete for a trophy, so to get second was a surprise. I couldn’t be prouder of them. They’re a good group.” 

The Coeur d'Alene mixed doubles team of sophomore Grant Johnson and senior Cailtin Combes fell to Colton Symes and Riann Osborne of Eagle 6-2, 6-1 in the 6A championship match.

4A: Sandpoint sophomore Pepper Rickert, who swept Bishop Kelly's Lauren Mallory 6-1, 6-0 in the semifinals, cruised to her second straight girls singles title, beating Brinley Nelson of Hillcrest 6-1, 6-2 in the finals. Rickert is undefeated in 48 high school matches over two seasons.

Sandpoint's girls, last year's champions, finished third with 27 points, one point behind Hillcrest for second. Bishop Kelly won the girls title with 47.5 points.

Bishop Kelly also won the boys team title.

3A: the Coeur d'Alene Charter boys doubles team of Tate Burkholder and Owen Sharp won the consolation championship over Trevor Mann and Nathan Compas of Parma to finish third.

Weiser (boys) and Fruitland (girls) won team titles.

6A 

BOYS TEAM SCORES — 1, Timberline 37. 2, Coeur d'Alene 30. 3, Boise 26.5. 4, Eagle 25. 5, Mountain View 24. 6, Rocky Mountain 12.5. 7, Madison 10. 8, Highland 7. 9, Thunder Ridge 5. 10, Capital 4.5. 11 (tie), Meridian, Post Falls 2. 13 (tie), Borah, Canyon Ridge 1.

GIRLS TEAM SCORES — 1, Eagle 53. 2, Boise 36.5. 3, Mountain View 18. 4, Rocky Mountain 13.5. 5, Borah 12. 6, Centennial 12. 7, Timberline 11. 8, Coeur d'Alene 9. 9, Thunder Ridge 7. 10, Madison 6. 11, Capital 4.5. 12, Meridian 2. 13 (tie), Canyon Ridge, Highland, Lake City 1.

BOYS SINGLES 

Championship bracket — Semifinals: Connor Judson, Coeur d’Alene, d. Zachary Bessey, Mountain View, 6-0, 6-1. Championship match:  Judson, Coeur d'Alene, d. Randy Li, Timberline, 6-2, 5-1 (medical retirement).

BOYS DOUBLES 

No locals 

GIRLS SINGLES 

No locals 

GIRLS DOUBLES  

No locals 

MIXED DOUBLES 

Championship bracket: Final: Colton Symes/Riann Osborne, Eagle, d. Grant Johnson/Caitlin Combes, Coeur d'Alene, 6-2, 6-1. 

5A 

BOYS TEAM SCORES — 1, Bishop Kelly 43.5. 2, Century 42. 3, Idaho Falls 32. 4, Wood River 17. 5, Middleton 15. 6, Skyline 10. 7, Sandpoint 5. 8 (tie), Bonneville, Emmett, Hillcrest, Twin Falls 4. 12, Lewiston 3.5. 13, Burley 2. 14, Mountain Home 1. 15, Lakeland 0.5.

GIRLS TEAM SCORES — 1, Bishop Kelly 47.5. 2, Hillcrest 28. 3, Sandpoint 27. 4, Century 26. 5, Idaho Falls 20. 6, Twin Falls 12. 7 (tie), Bonneville, Middleton, Skyline 6. 10, Emmett 4. 11, Shelley 2. 12, Lewiston 1.5. 13, Wood River 1. 14, Lakeland 1.

BOYS SINGLES 

Consolation bracket — Second round: Jacob Dawson, Sandpoint, d. Read Cook, Burley, 6-2, 6-3; Chase Schwartz, Wood River, d. Nathan Duke, Sandpoint, 6-1, 6-0. Third round: Schwartz, Wood River, d. Dawson, Sandpoint, 6-3, 6-1. 

BOYS DOUBLES  

Consolation bracket — Davis Higley/William Broadbent, Twin Falls, d. Brennan Johnson/Ethan Ballard, Sandpoint, 6-3, 6-0. 

GIRLS SINGLES 

Championship bracket — Pepper Rickert, Sandpoint, d. Lauren Mallory, Bishop Kelly, 6-1, 6-0. Finals: Rickert, Sandpoint, d. Brinley Nelson, Hillcrest, 6-1, 6-2.

Consolation bracket — Heidi Hatten, Bishop Kelly, d. Bella Bailey, Sandpoint, 6-1, 6-4.  

GIRLS DOUBLES 

Championship bracket — Semifinals: Kayla Nielson/Sofia Guzman, Bishop Kelly, d. Aubrey Knowles/Amelia Poulsen, Sandpoint, 6-1, 6-4.  Consolation bracket — Semifinals: Keeley McGeehan/Bel Miller, Century, d. Knowles/Poulsen, Sandpoint, 6-1, 6-3. 

MIXED DOUBLES 

Consolation bracket — Second round: Grant Parker/Shay Shippen, Skyline, d. Cailtin Costello/Marty Babb, Lakeland, 6-1, 6-0. 

4A 

BOYS TEAM SCORES — 1, Weiser 56. 2, Parma 35.5. 3, Fruitland 33. 4, Coeur d'Alene Charter 13. 5, Sugar-Salem 10.5. 6, Gooding 9. 7, Sun Valley Community School 8. 8, Ririe 6. 9, Orofino 4. 10, Grangeville 1. 11, Culdesac 0.5.

GIRLS TEAM SCORES — 1, Fruitland 59. 2, Parma 55.5. 3, Sun Valley Community School 28. 4, Weiser 12. 5, Sugar-Salem 9.5. 6, Coeur d'Alene Charter 5. 7, Clearwater Valley 4. 8, Gooding 3. 9, Clark Fork 2. 10, Culdesac 0.5.

BOYS SINGLES 

Consolation bracket — Second round: Jefferson Moss, Ririe, d. Mattis Macmillan, Cd’A Charter, 6-4, 6-2; Eli Pannell, Sugar-Salem, d. Rapael Reynaud, Cd’A Charter, 6-1, 6-0. 

BOYS DOUBLES  

Championship bracket — Semifinals: Kolin Cook/Diego Delgadillo, Weiser, d. Tate Burkholder/Owen Sharp, Cd’A Charter, 7-5, 6-3. Consolation bracket — Semifinals: Burkholder/Sharp, Cd’A Charter, d. Luke Bake/Klete Coo,, Weiser, 6-2, 6-1. Championship: Burkholder/Sharp, Cd’A Charter, d. Trevor Mann/Nathan Compas, Parma, 6-3, 6-3. 

GIRLS SINGLES 

Consolation bracket — Second round: Kami Peterson, Gooding, d. Etta Corkill, Cd’A Charter, 6-0, 6-0.   

GIRLS DOUBLES  

Championship bracket — Semifinals: Rainey Gross/Nyah Tubbs, Fruitland, d. Claire Leahy/Lydia Lehosit, Cd’A Charter, 7-5, 6-2. Consolation bracket — Semifinals: Tara Johnson/Natalia Jemmett, Parma, d. Lehosit/Leahy, Cd’A Charter, 6-4, 6-3. 

MIXED DOUBLES 

Consolation bracket — Third round: McKay Flaig/Isabelle Tuttle, Sugar-Salem, d. May Wigglesworth/Sam Poncato, Cd’A Charter, 6-2, 6-1. 

    Courtesy photo The Coeur d'Alene mixed doubles team of Grant Johnson and Caitlin Combes finished runner-up in the state 6A tennis tournament on Saturday in Boise.