Cranes Write Championship Finish Again
October 21, 2017
By Butch Harmon
Special for Second Half
HOLLAND – This year’s MHSAA Division 3 Boys Tennis Finals featured a familiar storyline and an equally familiar ending.
For the third straight season, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood came away with the Lower Peninsula Division 3 title – and for a third straight season the Cranes held off a familiar foe in longtime rival Detroit Country Day.
Led by outstanding singles players and clutch doubles play, top-ranked Cranbrook Kingswood totaled 36 points while Detroit Country Day placed second with 28. East Grand Rapids and Ada Forest Hills Eastern tied for third place with 20 points.
Cranbrook Kingswood did have a twist to this year’s winning plot. The Cranes were led by a new coach this season in Steve Herdoiza. Although in his first season with the boys, Herdoiza is no stranger to the tennis program as he has coached the Cranbrook Kingswood girls team the past four years.
“With this group of guys, I thought that winning a third state title was very attainable,” Herdoiza said. “I knew a lot of these guys. As a new coach it’s important that everyone buys into the system, and all these boys did. This is a team with a lot of depth and a lot of talent. When you put those two things together, and everyone is working hard, you can accomplish big things.”
Cranbrook Kingswood’s depth and talent proved key. Two years ago, the Cranes won the title by eight points over second-place Country Day, and last year the margin was just one point over the Yellowjackets. At the Regional leading up to this year’s Finals, Cranbrook Kingswood defeated Country Day, ranked second in LPD3, by two points.
Strong play in the singles flights proved a key for Cranbrook Kingswood. At No. 1 singles, senior Benji Jacobson came into the tournament as the top seed. A two-time individual Finals champion and last year’s winner at No. 1 singles, Jacobson claimed this year’s title with a 6-2, 6-4 win against Jack Dausman of Coopersville. Dausman was a familiar foe for Jacobson, as Jacobson defeated Dausman in last year’s semifinals.
After a slow start to the season, Jacobson came into the tournament on a roll the last few weeks.
“At the beginning of the year I struggled a little bit,” Jacobson said. “I changed my grip and it took a while to get used to it. A few weeks ago, it started to click and it made a big difference this year.”
Jacobson, who will continue his tennis career at Tulane University next season, capped his career at Cranbrook Kingswood as a three-time individual and three-time team Finals champion. While the individual titles are nice, the team title is by far more special for Jacobson.
“Winning the team title easily feels better,” Jacobson said. “For the past three months we’ve been on the court grinding and having fun off the court. These guys are like my brothers. We are more like a family, and winning three in a row is unbelievable.”
While Jacobson won his third individual singles title, his teammate, sophomore Lucas Bosch, claimed his first. Seeded first at No. 2 singles, Bosh defeated Ricky Warnicke, the second seed from Detroit Country Day, 6-4, 6-0.
“Words can’t describe this feeling,” Bosch said. “Being here last year helped me because I was not as nervous as last year. Winning the team title is great, especially for our seniors. This was their last matches in high school, and to send them out with a third title is amazing.”
Cranbrook Kingswood also came away with the championship at No. 3 singles. Justin Luo, the top seed, turned in an efficient performance in the finals with a 6-0, 6-0 win against second-seed Kody Harrington of Allegan.
At No. 4 singles, Detroit Country Day senior Eric Wang, the top seed, defeated a familiar foe in Cranbrook Kingswood’s Sohum Archarya. Wang held off Archarya 7-6 (7), 6-2 in a tight match.
“The first set was real close,” Wang said. “It went to a tie breaker and I won it 9-7, so it definitely was real close. It feels good to end my senior year with a win.”
In doubles play, Cranbrook Kingswood won at No. 2 as the top-seeded duo of Joseph Croskey and Nikhil Deenadayalu defeated Connor Smith and Kole Butterer of East Grand Rapids 6-4, 6-2.
Detroit Country Day claimed a pair of titles in double competition. At No. 3, Country Day’s team of Tom Nardicchio and Eric Liu held off Cranbrook Kingswood’s Eshaan Kawira and Jack Trees 7-5, 6-3.
At No. 4 doubles, the Country Day team of junior Nick Sicilia and senior Justin Lee defeated Cranbrook Kingswood’s Hayes Bradley and David Hermelin 7-6 (2), 6-4.
“To win the last match of your high school career is pretty awesome,” Lee said.
“It’s pretty special,” Sicilia said. “This is the third time we beat them this year. The first time it was 6-0, 6-3 and the second time it was 6-4, 6-1. This time the first set went to a tie breaker, so it was closer this time.”
One of the bigger surprises of the tournament came at No. 1 doubles, where Forest Hills Eastern’s Nick Hakken and Anish Premkumar, the three seed, defeated Cranbrook Kingswood top seeds Andrew Du and Jacob Yellen 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2.
“To finally win it is amazing,” Premkumar said. “It’s always been a goal of ours to win state.”
The win also helped Eastern finish in third place, the best finish the Hawks have ever posted at the Finals.
“We were just really focused,” Hakken said. “We had Country Day in the semifinals so we had to be real focused for that match also. To help the team to its best finish ever is really cool.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Cranbrook Kingswood celebrates its third straight LPD3 championship. (Middle) Anish Premkumar and Nick Hakken led Forest Hills Eastern to its highest Finals finish. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Escanaba Edges Negaunee to Claim Anticipated Battle for Best in UPD1
By
Jerry DeRoche
Special for MHSAA.com
June 1, 2022
KINGSFORD — All season long, the Escanaba Eskymos and the Negaunee Miners were the top two boys tennis teams in the Upper Peninsula, seemingly on a collision course to fight for the Division 1 championship for the second-straight year.
Turns out that premonition was accurate, and for the second-consecutive season, the Eskymos left with the championship, recording 17 points compared Negaunee’s 15. Marquette finished third with 13, Kingsford took fourth with five, Menominee placed fifth with two points and Gladstone did not score.
Escanaba won flight championships at No. 4 singles, No. 1 doubles, No. 2 doubles and No. 3 doubles. The Eskymos also finished runners-up at No. 2 singles and No. 4 doubles.
“I’m just happy for the kids,” said Escanaba coach Tom Penegor. “This is all about them. They put in a lot of hard work and practice time, and it’s just a bunch of kids that worked together. They deserve this.”
The Eskymos can thank their doubles players for their repeat. At No. 1 doubles, Isaac Maki and Dawson Williams upended James Thomsen and Jace Turri of Negaunee 6-1, 6-2, while No. 2 doubles Joseph Hubert and Joseph Montel defeated Negaunee’s Gavin Downey and Bryce Storms by the same score.
The No. 3 doubles tandem of Connor Smale and Troy Delvaux knocked off Marquette’s Isaac Johnson and Liam McFarren 6-2, 6-4 for the third doubles point.
Escanaba’s other flight championship came off the racquet of Sam Rivera, who battled back from a slow start to get past Mick Kumpala of Negaunee 0-6, 6-2, 6-3.
The No. 1 doubles match was indicative of the Eskymos’ efforts.
“I would say these were some of the best performances we had,” Williams said of his and Maki’s road to the championship. “I’m not going to look back and say, ‘Hey, we could have done better.’”
Williams, the ground stroker, and Maki, the imposing net presence at 6-foot-4, drew a bye into the second round where they battled past Kingsford’s Isaac Nash and Ben Trevillian 4-6, 7-6, 6-4. With the win in the final, the Escanaba duo closed the season unbeaten and secured their second-straight U.P. Finals title.
Escanaba’s depth was in evidence during its run Wednesday and all season, Penegor said.
“We have 35 kids that went out this year, and that’s unusual,” said the seventh-year Escanaba coach. “There are some teams out there that barely have 12 kids. I think part of that is if you have success, that can bring more kids to play. And Escanaba for many years has been a tennis community. We have had a lot of past U.P. champions, a lot of people that played in college.”
Runner-up Negaunee, which had its three-year run at the top of Division 1 in the Upper Peninsula end last season, received championship efforts from No. 2 singles player Gavin Saunders and No. 3 singles Tyler Lajimodiere. Saunders defeated Nathan Howes of Escanaba 6-2, 7-5, while Lajimodiere knocked off Chase Thomsen of Marquette 6-2, 6-3.
Marquette scored victories in the other two flights. Senior Nick Olivier showed his powerful game in beating Luke Syrjala of Negaunee 6-3, 6-1 at No. 1 singles, and Seppi Camilli and Toby Camilli topped Evan St. Peter and Parker LaFond of Escanaba 6-3, 7-5 at No. 4 doubles.
For Olivier, his title was another in the long line of family U.P. singles championships. His father Wayne won the 1983 No. 1 singles flight, while his brother Alec won four titles at No. 1 singles from 2016 to 2019.
Additionally, Nick’s sister Elysa captured top flight singles championships in 2018 and 2019.
The new family champion said he improved his athleticism and his feet during the summer, and he showed that Wednesday as he was often able to run around his backhand in order to blast away with his forehand.
Olivier said his performance was inspired by the late Jordan DeMay, a friend and basketball teammate at Marquette High School who died in March.
“A lot of motivation to do this,” he said, “was for my friend Jordan.”
PHOTOS (Top) Escanaba's Nathan Howes gets airborne to return a shot during Wednesday's Division 1 Final at Kingsford. (Middle) Marquette's Nick Olivier returns a volley during a No. 1 singles match. (Photos by Dennis Mansfield.)