Yarmouth High took nothing for granted, then took home the title Saturday.

The Clippers swept previously unbeaten Belfast 5-0 to win the Class B boys’ tennis state championship at Lewiston High.

Lincoln Academy won the girls’ championship, also with a 5-0 sweep of Erskine Academy, its Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference rival.

While Lincoln and Erskine were meeting for the third time this season, Yarmouth didn’t know what to expect from Belfast, which came in with a 15-0 record.

“You don’t go 15-0 unless you have a very good team,” Yarmouth Coach Bill Shardlow said.

The Clippers (15-1) also are very good, which they showed Thursday with a 3-2 upset of top-ranked Freeport in the regional final.

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“That felt really good to beat Freeport but we had no letdown today,” said Will Nichols, the team’s No. 3 singles player.

Yarmouth took a 2-0 lead with victories in both doubles. The teams of Liam Ireland and Asher Lockwood, and Miles Hagedorn and G.W. Ruth each won, 6-0, 6-1.

Yet Shardlow didn’t look relaxed.

“It’s not over,” he said. “I knew my doubles teams would be competitive but I saw (Belfast’s) match against Caribou (in the North final). Their singles players are tough.”

The Nos. 2 and 3 singles took a while, even though both finished in straight sets. Nichols struggled at first but beat Max Lewis, 7-5, 6-2.

“It was a big match and I was a little tight,” Nichols said. “Coming out in the first set, I was having a lot of trouble with my groundstrokes. And I think that was my worst-serving match of the season.”

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Still, Nichols won to clinch the team title.

Shep Shutkin’s No. 2 match took longer although he prevailed over Eli Joliffe, 6-3, 6-3. The match featured long rallies and long games.

“I had heard some things (about Joliffe) and I knew it was going to be tough,” Shutkin said. “I tried to just play my game and switch it up a little bit. In the end it worked out.”

Yarmouth’s No. 1, Archie McDonough, completed the sweep with a 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 win over Josh Chun.

Shardlow could relax. The Clippers won their first state title since 2009.

“We knew we were going to be competitive,” Shardlow said.

Look for the Clippers to be competitive again. Their only senior is Shutkin.

Lincoln Academy, looking for its second straight girls’ title was a heavy favorite based on its two previous wins (4-1 and 5-0) over Erskine.

Lincoln won all five matches, yielding only 14 games. Caitlin Cass, Fiona Land and Emily Harris won in singles – Harris by a 6-0, 6-0 score. Harmony Ingham and Sandra Thelander won No. 1 doubles, and Anastasiya Oliver and Kate Peters won No. 2.


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