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.)
Cranes' Team Effort Pays Off in Title Tie-Breaker
October 16, 2020
By Jarred Chrapek
Special for Second Half
HOLLAND – To regain the Lower Peninsula Division 3 boys tennis title, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood knew every point would matter.
That laser-focused approach proved to be spot on as the Cranes outlasted reigning champion Ann Arbor Greenhills to capture this season’s championship at Holland Christian.
The two teams split the eight matches in the final 4-4, with the tie-breaker total sets won. Cranbrook Kingswood had one more set to its advantage.
And not just every set, but every game could've carried additional significance. Had the teams tied for number of sets won, the Cranes also would've won the next tie-breaker – most games won within those sets.
“We knew it was going to be close,” said Cranbrook Kingswood coach Steve Herdoiza. “We knew that every point mattered, especially with this format.”
Unlike previous years, where the team champion was determined by how many matches individual players won during bracketed flight play, this year’s format was a pure team, head-to-head dual as the COVID-19 virus changed the way not only the tennis season was run but the way the MHSAA Tournament was set up.
This year’s title came down to a rematch between the two powers in Division 3 the past several years. Cranbrook Kingswood had won four straight Finals titles before Ann Arbor Greenhills snapped the streak last year. The two teams met three times this fall, tying 4-4 each time with Cranbrook winning twice on tie-breakers and Greenhills winning by tie-breaker the other time.
“Both teams knew it was likely to come down to total games won, or maybe sets. Cranbrook was deeper and won the lower flights by decisive margins, while Greenhills was stronger at the top, winning those matches,” Greenhills coach Eric Gajar said. “In the new format, it still came down to a total team effort, and Cranbrook was better (Friday) – they deserved to win. We will learn from it, and be stronger for having come through it. I know it will motivate the players to work hard this offseason, and they will come back ready for another shot."
This time, Cranbrook Kingswood junior Patrick Tiwari helped provide the tie-breaking set as he pushed his No. 2 singles match to three despite falling 7-5, 3-6, 6-3.
Tiwari, however, did his part for the team as he won the middle set in what was the final match of the day that ended just as darkness was falling on the courts.
“(The same opponent) defeated me pretty good in two sets earlier this season,” Tiwari said. “It felt good to win that second set and help to clinch the title. Winning that set to clinch the title for us was one of the best feelings I’ve ever had. The whole season was definitely weird, and to regain the state title was a great feeling.”
Just minutes before Tiwari’s match concluded, Cranbrook Kingswood senior Geoffrey Qin won his at No. 4 singles to give the Cranes their fourth victory of the dual. For the undefeated Qin, the victory was part of a total-team effort that started even before the season began.
“Winning this state title required so much effort by everyone,” Qin said. “It started back in August when we had COVID cases at our school. Not only did we have to work hard on our tennis and our conditioning, but we had to be diligent with the virus and practice good social distancing.”
The team also had to remain focused on preparing for every match, as lessons learned while coming up short at last year’s Final proved valuable this time around.
“We had some guys cramp up at last year’s state finals including myself,” Qin said. “We had to make sure that we kept hydrated and did proper stretching before matches this year to prevent cramping up. You learn lessons from defeat that you don’t learn by winning. That was an important lesson we learned last year, and I don’t think we would’ve won this year’s state title without learning those lessons.”
Qin and fellow team captains Dhilan Nagaraju and Enzo Martella provided Cranbrook Kingswood with strong leadership the entire season.
“We had four seniors this year and some very good leadership from our captains,” Herdoiza said. “We also had some freshmen step up along with some sophomores and juniors.
“We knew it was going to be a battle with Greenhills. We are two evenly-matched teams, and it came down to one set. Today we just took advantage of the opportunities given to us.”
Cranbrook Kingswood received some strong efforts from its doubles teams. The Cranes won three of the four doubles matches, led by the No. 2 pair Martella and Theo Taubman, who claimed a 7-5, 6-1 win.
“Our team goal was to peak for states,” Martella said. “This was a really difficult season with the COVID and everything, but we just kept getting better every week.”
The total team effort proved to be the key for Cranbrook Kingswood in the end.
“Everyone on the team played very well the entire tournament, especially at the end,” Nagaraju said. “Patrick at two singles exceeded expectations. We just kept on battling this year and overcoming numerous setbacks. We developed into a real team, and that was the difference. We just trusted the process.”
Cranbrook Kingswood claimed wins at No. 3 and No. 4 doubles. Sebs Taubman and Jacob Coburn picked up a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 3 doubles, while Caden Che and Andrew Fink won at No. 4 by a score of 6-0, 6-0.
Greenhills claimed the No. 1 doubles match with Joey Formicola and Thomas Zeng winning 6-1, 6-3.
Greenhills also won three singles matches. Mert Oral claimed a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 1 singles. Sophomore Rishi Verma won at No. 3 by a score of 7-6(6), 6-1.
“I was particularly pleased with my top three singles players – all of whom won their matches in the final. Between them, they had only one loss all season long despite a brutal schedule against top competition,” Gajar said. “My one doubles team had a great tournament, including avenging a regular-season loss in the semifinal round, then played lights out in the finals, defeating a solid team.
“There are lots of teams that would have loved to be in our position and playing for a title in their last match. We did well to get there and came up just short. I am proud of how my guys competed and handled themselves. Of course, we were thrilled to have had a season at all; that wasn't always a sure thing. Hard to believe it's over.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Patrick Tiwari of Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood returns a shot during his No. 2 singles match against Ann Arbor Greenhills. (Middle) Greenhills’ Mert Oral returns a volley at No. 1 singles. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)