Demopolis High tennis teams ready for state tourney

The boys and girls tennis teams from Demopolis High School will be competing in the state tournament Thursday and Friday at the Mobile Tennis Center.

Both squads punched their tickets to the state draw last week with strong, second-place showings at the sectional tournament in Jasper.

“It’s huge. It’s absolutely huge. We lost two boys last year in Logan Boone and Chance Martin. They were very big in us getting to state last year. We had an injury at the beginning of this year. We ended up playing with a half a team that was returning and half a team that – not only were they not seeded last year – this was their first year to ever play competitive tennis,” Demopolis tennis coach Clay Massey said of the season put together by the boys team. “We were able to get it done when it mattered and make it to the state tournament. So they were able to keep a string alive that I know is going back at least seven years of our boys qualifying for state. The girls, going back to last year, their goal was to make it to state this year.”

With squads receiving three points for a doubles win and two points for a singles win, Demopolis netted a total of 21 points on the boys side, edging third place Chilton County 21-20.

“That’s tight as far as finishing second, but it was a weird draw this year. Some of us got a good draw. Some of us, like Carson Parten, drew Walker first. Carson was easily the second best boy in our section, he just happened to play the best boy,” Massey said.

In boys No. 1 doubles, the Demopolis team of Kyle Woodruff and Carson Parten defeated Central-Tuscaloosa in the first round and fell to Walker in the second round.

In boys No. 2 doubles, the Demopolis team of Garrett Miller and Jacob Browder dropped Chilton County in the first round and Central in the second before falling to Walker in the finals. In boys No. 3 doubles, Demopolis youngsters Rodney Skidmore and Ben Robertson drew Walker in the first round and lost.

In boys No. 1 singles, Kyle Woodruff beat Paul Bryant in the first round and Central-Tuscaloosa in the second before falling to Walker.

In boys No. 2 singles, Carson Parten fell to Walker in the first round. In boys No. 3 singles Demopolis’ Garrett Miller beat Ramsay in the first round and dropped Paul Bryant in the second before losing to Walker in the finals.

In boys No. 4 singles, Jacob Browder beat Ramsay in the first round and fell to Walker in the second. In No. 5 singles, Rodney Skidmore Demopolis beat Central in the first round and Paul Bryant in the second before losing to Walker. In No. 6 singles, Ben Robertson beat McAdory in the first round and lost to Chilton in the second.

“We ended up with 21 points. Chilton County ended up with 20. It went down to the No. 1 and No. 2 championship match and we took care of business when we had to, so it was very good,” Massey said.

The girls netted 25 points for their second place finish, despite not having a strong showing in doubles competition.

“The girls got about the same draw as the boys did. Some were favorable and some weren’t. We got a horrible doubles draw. Doubles is generally where your points are made and we didn’t. Leaving doubles play, we were actually down. We were in third place and we ended up playing very well throughout the singles. We actually got more points in singles than we did in doubles, which is hard to do,” Massey said. “We had three girls playing in the championship matches against Walker High School.”

In girls No. 1 doubles, the Demopolis team of Meredith Hill and Sarah Culpepper beat Central-Tuscaloosa in the first round and fell to Walker in the second.

In girls No. 2 doubles, Mary Brown and Kate Floyd beat Paul Bryant in the first round and fell to Walker in the second.

In girls No. 3 doubles, Anna Ezell and Lauren Boone beat Paul Bryant in the first round and Chilton County in the second before losing to Walker in the finals.

In girls No. 1 singles, Meredith Hill beat McAdory in the first round and fell to Walker in the second.

In girls No. 2 singles, Sarah Culpepper beat Central in the first round and Bryant in the second before falling to Walker in the finals.

The No. 3 seed girls bracket saw Anna Ezell beat Ramsay in the first round and Pleasant Grove in the second before falling to Walker in the finals.

The No. 4 seed girls draw saw Mary Brown beat Paul Bryant in the first and McAdory in the second round before falling to Walker in the finals.

In girls No. 5 singles, Kate Floyd fell to Walker in the first round.

In No. 6 singles, Lauren Boone beat Chilton County in the first round and fell to Walker in the second.