In a fight for the top of the high school tennis scene in Montana, the Polson team remained the lone participant of any Lake County school at any classification.

Two singles and two duos took on the best at the Class A State Tennis Tournament in Hardin with a chance at state glory. Three of Polson’s four tournament entries placed top six, leading to the boys tying for third place and the girls placing fourth in the team standings to close out the year.

Baylee Lemm represented Polson in the girls singles and, despite losing in the first round to Ava Wilcox of Corvallis, earned a win on day two. She took down Havre’s Arielle Kaftan before bowing out to Park’s Chloe Shinn.

In the girls doubles, Greta Lund and Hinkley Moss dominated for most of this tournament. An opening round win against Kenadee Crockett and Olivia Johnson of Dawson helped set them up for an intense fight against Liv Breidenbach and Maya Dengel of Fergus.

They took down those two 6-4 and 6-1 before a matchup against Dillon’s Shannon Martin and Gabby Thomas. Despite dropping the first set, they come back with a 6-2 and 6-2 set win to take the match.

They faced off against familiar foes in Carmy Kelch and Allie Shors of Whitefish. Unfortunately for the Pirate duo, they fell in straight sets, but ended as runners-up in the state tournament.

In boys singles, Ruger Ellis took on Pierce Yaskus of Corvallis in the opening round, suffering a loss. However, Ellis beat out Havre’s Wyatt Jelly to kickstart a run to the third place match.

He proceeded to win against Brennan Holman of Miles City and Joey Carney of Dawson to set up a match against Hardin’s hometown singles participant, Tim Whiteman.

Whiteman looked impressive, almost punching his ticket to the state championship match. However, Ellis was undeterred as he won to set up a match against Whitefish’s Owen Erickson. A valiant effort from Ellis fell just short as he lost to Erickson, taking fourth place in the tournament.

Finally, Teague McElwee and Marcus Lucas battled it out in the boys doubles with three straight wins to start their tournament. First, a victory over a young Fergus duo of Quinn Phillips and Lane Reesor set them up against Saul Hostman and Kordt Smith of Miles City.

The Pirate boys won out and faced off against William Noteboom and Adrian Taganahan of Hardin, losing in three sets.

Lucas and McElwee lost against Billings Central’s Caiden Hernandez and Christian Reck in the consolation bracket, setting themselves up for the fifth place match. They fell to Coles Moses and Jake Shors of Whitefish, earning the final placement spot in the state tournament.

    The Polson boys tennis team stands together after placing third at the Class A State Tennis Tournament on May 30 in Hardin. (Deanna McElwee Photo)