LEWISTON — When Scarborough High senior Laura Henny delivered her valedictory address at graduation Sunday, she concentrated on a theme that plays as well in athletics as academia.
“It was about perseverance and never giving up,” she said Thursday, “which is very applicable for today.”
That’s because the Scarborough girls’ tennis team took on the juggernaut known as Falmouth High in the Western Class A final at Bates College. You didn’t need Henny’s SAT scores to understand Scarborough had little chance of an upset.
“But for us, that was good,” she said. “We knew we’d be OK with whatever happened and we did better than expected. We won a point, which we’re all very proud of.”
Falmouth’s 4-1 victory extended its remarkable winning streak to 124 and set up a state final match Saturday against Lewiston at Lewiston High.
Falmouth swept singles behind Olivia Leavitt, Julie Brogan (over Henny) and Caroline Ray, dropping only six games.
Kate Kelley and Amanda Watson provided the clincher with a 6-3, 6-0 victory at first doubles but Scarborough twins Ashley and Kristen Levesque averted the shutout with a 6-4, 4-6, 10-5 victory at second doubles. With the overall outcome decided, they played a tiebreaker in lieu of a third set.
After six straight Class B state titles, Falmouth won its first Class A crown last year and goes for a second Saturday.
“It doesn’t feel old hat,” said Kelley. “This is only the second time for us coming here so it’s still really exciting.”
“Especially because we’re playing in Class A,” said Brogan, referring to Falmouth (15-0) playing mostly Class B teams in the regular season. “It’s a little nerve-wracking going in because of all this new competition.”
In Class B, defending state champion Greely toppled previously unbeaten Lincoln Academy 4-1 to advance to Saturday’s state finals against Mt. Desert Island.
The second-seeded Rangers (13-2), whose only losses have come against powerful Falmouth, jumped to a quick 2-0 lead by sweeping doubles.
Mia Lambert and Jessie Hoffman dropped only one game at No. 1 doubles, and Sam Kennedy and Madeline Day won all but two games.
“We worked a lot with doubles this past week,” said Greely Coach Ben Caswell. “That’s the best I’ve seen my second doubles play this year.”
The clincher didn’t come until Greely freshman Izzy Evans, who had to wait until a match ended for one of the four available courts to open up, won 6-4, 6-1 at No. 1 singles.
“In the second set I was going for more of my shots but not too much,” Evans said. “Not trying to paint the lines. I knew I had to get my point for the team.”
The teams split the remaining singles matches, with Greely freshman Katherine Pare outlasting Spanish exchange student Cris Garcia 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3 at No. 2, and Nettie Hoagland of Lincoln Academy winning 6-3, 7-5 at No. 3.
“They were kind of this mysterious team we didn’t know,” Pare said of the Newcastle school. “So it was kind of exciting.”
In Class C, fourth-ranked North Yarmouth Academy ended the four-year title reign of Waynflete with a 4-1 victory. The Panthers (12-3) twice shut out seventh-seeded Waynflete (7-8) in the regular season.
“I was still concerned,” NYA senior Mina Stam said. “There was not a feeling at all that it was going to be a slam dunk.”
Stam won 6-1, 7-5 at No. 2 singles to provide the clinching point after a doubles split and Mary Morrison’s 6-0, 6-0 victory at No. 3 singles.
Lena Rich completed the singles sweep with a 6-0, 6-3 victory at No. 1.
NYA’s only losses this season have come at the hands of Greely, Cape Elizabeth and Falmouth.
Hannah Chapman and Corinne Poitras won handily at first doubles for NYA. Waynflete freshman Molly McNutt and sophomore Sidara Cash-Sortwell edged NYA seniors Livy Stam and Hannah Hungerford 7-6 (6) in the first set of their second doubles match and won by default when the heat proved too much for Hungerford, who opted to retire with the overall match decided.
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