NEW MARKET — Southmont boys’ tennis doubles teams each blanked Crawfordsville on Thursday night to help lift the Mounties past the Athenians 4-1, earning a pair of Journal Review County Chase points.
The duo of Micah Korhorn and Mason Hall beat Zack Fichter and Ziair Morgan 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 doubles, while Chayce Howell and Harrison Haddock downed Simon Galbert and Thomas Bowling 6-0, 6-0 in the No. 2 spot.
The Mounties are now 5-6 overall and 2-1 in Sagamore Conference play.
“We are still a work in progress and have a ways to go to be where we think we need to be,” Southmont coach Nathan Poynter said. “Everyone is progressing and we are progressing in the right direction. I don’t care who you are playing, if you don’t give up a game it means you’re doing some things right. It means you’re communication and actually playing together.”
Crawfordsville’s Austin Motz battled with Southmont’s Adam Cox, but fell at the No. 1 singles spot 6-2, 6-4.
“We had some key performances,” Athenians coach Craig Brainard said. “I thought Austin at 1 singles put up a really good fight against Adam, who is a really good player. I think that was a good mental win for Austin. And Thomas Bowling played really well at 2 doubles. His net game was really good.”
The Athenians’ lone win came from James Murphy at No. 3 singles 6-1, 6-2 over Luke Watson. At No. 2 singles Luke Tesmer, who played at No. 2 doubles on the Mounties’ 2019 sectional title team, came from behind to beat Thatcher Gambrel 0-6, 7-5, 6-2.
“He’s come up to No. 2 singles and playing a lot different,” Poynter said of Tesmer. “and that’s really due to his dedication. He’s worked really hard to get where he’s at. He’s come a long way.”
Crawfordsville is still looking for that breakthrough match, but Brainard knows it’s only a matter of time.
“We are still trying to figure that out,” he said. “We have young guys who have the mindset that think they’re either going to win or lose when they go into it. So a lot of it is them believing they can win from the beginning or willing to fight through it. I think we have lost a lot of close matches where that fight needs to be there. We are just waiting for that one to come through, and I think once they feel it they’re going to like it and know what to do that next time.”
