After a rocky start, Gorham’s boys tennis team played better in the second half of the season and may squeeze into the upcoming state tournament.

All three singles Rams players coasted Friday against Sanford in a match moved indoors to USM’s courts. Aaron Bergeron, at number one singles, topped Tyler Scully, 6-0, 6-3, while Sean Allen beat Nate Nickerson, 6-2, 6-0, and Mike Ryan dispatched Luke Welch, 6-1, 6-1.

“The surface is really slippery here and my arm started flaring up a little bit. It’s a problem I’ve had for a couple years,” said Bergeron. “We’re strong, but we can’t really pull out wins we need. I think we’ll do alright in playoffs.”

Gorham’s doubles teams split, with Sanford’s Brad Darby and Tim Jenkel taking the first, 7-5, 7-6 (7-2), over Jacob Shorty and Kiet Thai, while the Rams second duo of Isaac Pease and Pat Shaw topped Jimmy Owen and Josh Blier, 6-1, 6-2.

“Bergeron has the potential to beat anyone,” said Gorham coach Viet Ly, whose team slid to 4-7 after dropping a close match Monday to Thornton. “On any given day we have a chance to win a match. It will just take time.”

Meanwhile, the Lady Rams swept the Redskins and are now 8-4 after dealing the same fate to Thornton Academy at home Monday.

Kelsey Wilson, Kate Bowring and Libby Johnston all won in straight sets, giving up a total of eight games between them.

“I think we’re doing a good job in Class A,” said Johnston. “We’re learning a lot and improving our skills. We have a very strong team.”

The doubles tandem of Sally Patterson and Amanda Sawyer beat Sanford’s Kendra Sherman and Katie Hegarty, and Gorham’s Katie Zarrilli abd Bethany Straw edged sisters Kayla and Karyn Plante, 6-4, 7-5.

It was their first match together for Patterson and Sawyer.

“We’ve been moving around a lot of players to find new combinations,” said Sawyer, “but all of them seem to fit really well.”

If the Rams can hold onto fifth spot, they’ll be able to skip the postseason preliminary round, which is scheduled for May 30, and jump right into the June 1 quarterfinals.