Ironwood Ridge's Shannon Contreras hits the ball while playing in the 5A Division II girls singles state championship Saturday.
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GLENDALE – It was an all Ironwood Ridge matchup in the Class 5A Division II boys doubles championship with No. 1 Timothy Holten and Dillon Kennedy defeating No. 2 Josh Taylor and Conor Spiegel 7-5, 6-1 for their second straight title.
Both sides came out strong in the first set, but Holten and Kennedy stepped it up in the second set against the familiar faces.
“It’s very odd facing your teammates,” Holten said. “But I’m glad they made it there too. It was a good battle.”
Kennedy thought the match was a good sign for Ironwood Ridge, which last week won its second-straight team championship.
“It just shows how strong our team is that two of us can get that deep in the tournament,” Kennedy said. “It’s nice, but at the same time, it’s hard to see your teammates go down.”
Kennedy had a strong serve all match long, and Holten kept tracking down shots to his left and right with ease. The chemistry proved once again to be a winning combination.
“It’s awesome,” Kennedy said. “Two years in a row doesn’t happen very often so it’s special.”
Classmate Shannon Contreras fell 6-2, 6-0 in the 5A-II girls singles championship to Phoenix Pinnacle’s Priscilla Annoul.
Contreras, the team captain, earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament and advanced to the championship despite a large blister developing on hir had during Friday’s quarterfinal match.
5A-I girls
Senior Maggie McGeorge fell to Tempe Corona del Sol’s Kelsey Lawson 6-1, 6-1 in the Class 5A Division I singles championship.
Salpointe coach Perri Touche will lose McGeorge to graduation, and that loss brought on a few tears Saturday. She coached McGeorge throughout her career and thinks of her as one of her own.
“She’s been very successful on and off the court,” Touche said. “You name it, this kid has done it. It’s been an honor.”
Touche did have reason to celebrate and look forward. Her doubles team, a pair of freshmen cousins, earned the state title with a 7-6 (8-6), 6-1 victory over Xavier.
The girls, Lauren and Courtney Amos, battled through and won a first-set tiebreak, which proved to be the turning point in the match.
Touche had a feeling the girls would win.
“The kids kind of got it,” she said, referring to the tiebreak. “They had momentum, and they were doing exactly what they were supposed to do.”
For more on high school sports, check out the Grammer School sports blog.