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| Blue Springs South's Paul Province hits a backhand during his doubles match with partner Alec Barber against Truman during Wednesday's Class 2, District 14 final. The Jaguars won 5-3. |
The Jaguars had taken a 4-2 lead in singles, meaning they
needed just one doubles win for their second straight district championship.
It was a familiar spot for Truman because they had rallied
from a 4-2 deficit the night before against Lee’s Summit North by winning all
three doubles matches to advance. And while they notched the first doubles win
to make it 4-3, South’s Paul Province and Alec Barber fought back from a set
down to win the clinching match.
“We were kind of witnessing the drama on the court next to
us,” Barber said of seeing teammates Alex and Jared Martin losing a tough three
set match. “We thought the team might be in trouble, but we had come this far
and weren’t going to let anything stop us. We kicked it into gear.”
The duo came out a little lackadaisical in the first set,
losing 3-6 despite the fact that they had just beaten the two players they were
playing in singles just moments ago.
“We were tentative at first and a little nervous,” Province
said. “We both beat those guys in our singles matches so there was no reason we
couldn’t do it in doubles.”
Province simply said they each “started to hit our shots,”
and the momentum of the match clearly turned after a 7-5 win in the second set.
“After the second set we knew we had it,” Barber said.
Added Province, “We went from the lowest low to our best
performance in a while.”
Province and Barber didn’t start the season as the teams No.
1 doubles team but since they’ve taken over that role they have been getting
better each time out.
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| Blue Springs South senior Alex Martin hits a backhand during his doubles match with brother Jared in Wednesday's district final match against Truman. |
“About a quarter of the way through the season we had to
move them up to No. 1. It’s been great for them. They’ve had to play better
teams,” South head coach Sheri Rehmer said. “They are emotional. They feed off
each other. Paul turns it into another gear. They work really well together.”
While Province and Barber combined for three points, the
district title, as always, was a team effort, with plenty of help coming from
the bottom of the lineup.
Brent Henderson and John Duffey, No. 5 and No. 6,
respectively, both picked up crucial singles wins, with Duffey’s coming in
three sets.
Duffey has been playing doubles only for most of the season
after Henderson beat him out for the No. 6 spot, but with No. 1 player Chris
Hammond out with an illness again, Duffey stepped in and got the job done for
the third time in the last two weeks.
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| South's No. 6 singles player John Duffey hits an overhead smash in his three-set singles win. |
“Talk about an experienced guy stepping in. I’m thrilled for
John to step back in and make an impact as a senior,” Rehmer said. “He is very
solid. He lost to Brent (for the sixth spot) but he took it, didn’t sulk and he
stepped in and he was ready.
“And Brent’s been on fire. He just keeps winning. A lot of
credit goes to the bottom of the lineup.”
Henderson hasn’t been the only one to show progress down the
stretch, as Rehmer has seen a different team as of late.
“The last three weeks we’ve really started to realize our
potential more,” she said. “The three seniors have stepped up and the younger
guys, they’re just setting the plate for next year. They’re extremely
competitive and that’s what you want as a coach.”
While Rehmer admits last year’s district title was “a shock”
as she put it, this one was different with the entire team returning.
But with an experience group comes expectations, and the
Jaguars did their best to live up to those.
“This year we had more of a target on our backs and a team
like Truman, they had five seniors,” Rehmer said. “We still had to go out there
and prove it. No one was going to roll over and die for us. I’m really proud of
them going out every night. We hope to go as far as we can. Right now, they can
say they’re in the top 16 in the state.”
Added Barber, unable to contain his excitement, “It’s so
special. This is great. This is as good as it’s ever been.”
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