With an opportunity to claim a share of the District 6-4A team tennis championship on the line in their regular season finale Thursday, the Brownwood Lions and Lady Lions slipped past Stephenville, 10-9, to create a three-way tie atop the final league standings.
The district championship is the first for the Lions and Lady Lions since the 2018 fall campaign.
“I’m extremely proud of this group,” said Brownwood High tennis head coach Crystal Blazek. “They work hard and to win two district matches 10-9 is pretty amazing. That’s some intense tennis and you have to step up and be clutch and they were.”
Brownwood (11-4, 3-1), Stephenville (3-1 in district) and Lampasas (3-1 in district) will share the tri-championship from 6-4A, while the Lions and Lady Lions will head into the playoffs as the third seed and face District 5-4A runner-up Peaster at 10 a.m. Tuesday in Weatherford.
The seeding was determined by matches won head-to-head, as Lampasas picked up a 12-7 victory over Brownwood, Stephenville knocked off Lampasas 11-8, and the Lions and Lady Lions tallied their 10-9 triumph Thursday.
Brownwood won five of eight doubles matches to jump out to the early advantage as victories were claimed by No. 1 boys team River Prado and Tyler Mitchell (2-6, 6-0, 11-9 over Derick Hunter and Gabe Cortez), No. 1 girls doubles team Emma Delgado and Raylei Hickey (6-1, 4-6, 13-11 over Ally Foster and Grace Taylor), No. 3 boys team Caleb Dietlin and Blake Hutchins (6-2, 6-3 over Ryder Sims and Travis Williams), No. 3 girls team Ashlyn Bundick and Anna Daniel (6-1, 6-3 over Rose Cordez and Addison Reeves) and the mixed doubles team of Trine Baugh and Amy Decchaulene (6-0, 7-6[5] over Olivia Cortez and Rhett Donham).
Collecting singles wins for the Lady Lions were No. 1 Delgado (6-2, 7-5 over Foster), No. 2 Hickey (6-1, 6-1 over Taylor), and No. 4 Bundick (6-3, 6-0 over Jayci Smith).
Securing singles triumphs for the Lions were No. 1 Prado (6-1, 7-5 over Hunter) and No. 5 Dietlin (6-4, 6-2 over Sims).
