LINDEN — Coming into Tuesday’s county tennis matchup, North Montgomery already held a 4-1 win over Southmont this season after facing off in the McCutcheon Invite. Tuesday saw the two county rivals square off again at North and it proved to be a battle until the very end. The Chargers would come away with a narrow 3-2 county and conference win this time over the Mounties with all five spots being competitive.
At one singles the Mounties earned one of their two wins with Gavin Downey picking up a 6-3, 6-1 win over the Chargers Alex Chapman. Beckett Martin would best the Mounties Colton Cory 7-6 (5), 7-5 in a very competitive two singles match. Cade Cole secured the Charger win with his 6-3, 7-5 win at three singles over Caden Allen.
One doubles proved to be the match of the night with the Mounties taking the win in three sets. Owen McCutchan and Dean McGaughey bested the Chargers Owen Utterback and Nate McCoy 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8). The Chargers also got a win at two doubles from the duo of Austin Biddle and Dan Elliott as they defeated the Mounties Mike Hardin and Alex Garcia 6-3, 6-0.
“We scratched and clawed our way to a win tonight,” first-year Charger coach Devan Plant said. “I told them before the match started that I didn’t care if we beat them before, tonight they had to show up and earn it again. It’s nice to pick up a county and conference win as well as some chase points, because matches like these are very important to our guys.”
The Mounties, who are still a very young team, are working towards being able to finish close matches like Tuesday’s off in their favor according to coach Nathan Poynter. He says how that is something that will come with time as his team gains more and more experience.
“Our kids are still learning how to win,” he said. “That happens when you’re in a re-build like we are. Some things that usually rely on being an experienced team like we have been in the past, are hard to get over right now. We were close at two and three singles and our one doubles was able to pull out a very close three setter. Some of these lumps we’ve taken have just been because we need time to learn how to figure some things out.”
What made the county and conference win even better for the Chargers was that it was also senior night. The Chargers after the match celebrated Utterback, McCoy, and Chapman for their dedication to the program. Plant noted how those three have been a big help in his first year at the helm.
“You know what you’re going to get out of all three of those guys,” Plant said of his three seniors. “They all work extremely hard and are great leaders for the entire team. They set a good example for our other guys and we’ve been very lucky to have them this year.”
The Chargers conclude the regular season with the win and will now await the sectional draw on Monday to see what lies ahead for next week’s sectional at CHS. The Mountie will conclude the regular season on Thursday when they host Lebanon.
