Oct. 24—Led by Zander Corwin and Sylvester Stehr's doubles title, the Centralia boys tennis team captured the 2A District 4 Championship on Friday at the Mint Valley Tennis Center in Longview.
"All the work they've put in paid off," Centralia coach Keith Hopkins said. "It was an unforgettable day."
Corwin and Stehr entered the tournament as the EvCo's No. 1 seed, and they won their quarterfinal and semi final 6-0, 6-0 and 6-2, 7-6 before facing Columbia River's Ryan Wyle-Wilson and Isaac Thompson in the district championship match.
Corwin and Stehr dominated, winning 6-2, 6-0.
Centralia's Bobby Simpson and Jonathon Robbins reached the district semifinals and eventually finished fourth in the doubles bracket to clinch a state spot.
"Our doubles teams showed up," Hopkins said.
Even with the pair top-four doubles spots secured, the district title wasn't clinched until the final match of the day.
Charlie Stratton beat R.A. Long's Rylan Burleson 6-2, 6-2 in the 5th/6th match, claiming a state alternate spot, and that victory turned out to be "one piece of a complex series of events" that clinched the title for the Tigers.
Black Hills' Parees Deol, the EvCo's No. 1 seed in the singles bracket, won the singles district title, dropping just three combined games in his quarterfinal and semifinal victories before beating Washougal's Mason Fusco, the GSHL's No. 1 seed, 6-4, 6-3 in the championship match.
Tumwater's Thomas Williams and W.F. West's Sawyer Duncan both reached the 3rd/4th match to earn state spots. Williams won two straight matches after losing his quarterfinal, while Duncan won one match after reaching the semis. Williams beat Duncan 6-4, 6-1 to claim third.
Like golf, the state tennis tournament is not until the spring because that is when the east side of the state plays its regular season. The boys state tennis tournament is set for May 21 and 22, 2027, at the Nordstrom Tennis Center on the University of Washington campus in Seattle.