PREP TENNIS: Coeur d'Alene sweeps at regionals

COEUR d’ALENE — To win championships, players have to dig in, play and get better.

So went the Coeur d’Alene tennis program.

Coeur d’Alene’s boys finished with 64 points, beating second-place Lewiston by 20 points for the regional title and the Viking girls won their first title since 2019 with 43.5 points at the 5A Region 1 tournament, which concluded on Saturday at Coeur d’Alene High.

The combined Viking team was coming off an unbeaten (15-0) regular season for the first time in school history, according to boys coach Corey DeLeonard. He also said the boys regional title was the first in "a while."

Coeur d'Alene won team titles in 1996 and ’97, back in the days when boys and team scores were combined.

“With our boys group, we’ve had a lot of our seniors step up,” said DeLeonard, in his fourth season in his second stint as coach. “We’re going to lose six seniors, so they knew they were going to have to go for it this year. And they played a lot during the offseason and it really helped with winning the regional title.”

The Coeur d’Alene boys doubles team of Alexander Nipp and Jake Whiting won the regional title, beating fellow Viks CJ Giao and Gabriel Danser in straight sets.

In the girls singles final, Lake City junior Maddy Nesbit defeated Coeur d’Alene senior Audrey Judson for the second year in a row, this time 6-3, 6-4.

“It feels like a big accomplishment to go undefeated (in the regular season) and be district champ two years in a row,” Nesbit said.

The two have battled often over the past three seasons. Judson, who has signed with Whitworth, won during Nesbit’s freshman year; Nesbit has won every matchup since.

“It really comes down to who’s having the better day,” Nesbit said. “I think my ability to adapt to her playing style puts me at an advantage.”

Both qualified for state next weekend in Boise. Nesbit went 0-2 at state last year for the second year in a row, but she’s taking a different mental approach down south this year.

“I’m going to go in to state not as timid,” Nesbit said. “Because I think the Boise girls are at a higher level than anyone else here, but I shouldn’t not consider myself as competition for them. I qualified; I belong to be here.”

Addie Muir and Madi Barkley of Post Falls beat a team from Lewiston in straight sets to win the girls doubles title.

The top three in each event advance to state next Friday and Saturday at the Boise Racquet and Swim Club.

5A

(Top three in each advance to state)

BOYS TEAM SCORES — 1, Coeur d’Alene 64. 2, Lewiston 44. 3, Post Falls 24. 4, Lake City 15.5.

GIRLS TEAM SCORES — 1, Coeur d’Alene 43. 2, Post Falls 36. 3, Lewiston 35. 4, Lake City 29.5.

BOYS SINGLES — Consolation bracket: Second round: Ryan Zyska, Post Falls, d. Tysen Gersdorff, Lake City, 6-3, 6-3. Matthew Nesbit, Lake City, d. Ethan Fleischmann, Post Falls, 5-7, 6-0, 10-7. Third round: Zyska, Post Falls, d. Zyska, Post Falls, 6-1, 6-2. Connor Judson, Coeur d’Alene, d. Nesbit, Lake City, 6-0, 6-0. Placing matches: Dylan Gomez, Lewiston, d. Turner Cox, Coeur d’Alene, 6-1, 6-2. Third-place match: Judson, Coeur d’Alene, d. Zyska, Post Falls, 6-1, 6-0.

GIRLS SINGLES — Consolation bracket: Second round: Katie Shell, Coeur d’Alene, d. Raya Zirker, Lewiston, 6-3, 6-3. Teagan Hayes, Lake City, d. Eliza Pfaff, Lewiston, 6-2, 7-3. Third round: Christina Glass, Coeur d’Alene, d. Shell, Coeur d’Alene, 6-3, 6-3. Maddie Hunt, Coeur d’Alene, d. Hayes, Lake City, 6-4, 6-3. Placing matches: Championship: Maddy Nesbit, Lake City, d. Audrey Judson, Coeur d’Alene, 6-3, 6-4. Third-place match: Hunt, Coeur d’Alene, d. Glass, Coeur d’Alene, 4-6, 7-5, 10-4.

BOYS DOUBLES — Consolation bracket: Second round: Bren/Bearsley, Lewiston, d. Pacheco/Beeler, Lewiston, 6-1, 6-0. Castaneda/Snow, Lake City, d. Stowell/Stowell, Lake City, 6-2, 6-3. Placing matches: Championship: Nipp/Whiting, Coeur d’Alene, d. Giao/Danser, Coeur d’Alene, 6-3, 7-5. Third-place match: Bren/Beardsley, Lewiston, d. Castaneda/Snow, Lake City, 6-4, 6-3.

GIRLS DOUBLES — Consolation bracket: Second round: DeLeonard/Black, Coeur d’Alene, d. Stephens/Johnson, Coeur d’Alene, 6-1, 6-1. Barker/Ho, Lewiston, d. Stone/Webster, Post Falls, 6-2, 6-3. Placing matches: Championship: Barkley/Muir, Post Falls, d. Bren/Bren, Lewiston, 6-4, 6-3. Third-place match: DeLeonard/Black, Coeur d’Alene, d. Barker/Ho, Lewiston, 7-5, 7-6.

MIXED DOUBLES — Consolation bracket: Second round: Morton/May, Coeur d’Alene, d. Priest/Antal, Coeur d’Alene, 6-2, 6-1. Calkins/Shapiro, Post Falls, d. Rosenau/Hakkarainen, Lake City, 6-2, 6-1. Placing matches: Championship: Olson/Hill, Lewiston, d. Newell/Newell, Post Falls, 3-6, 7-5, 10-4. Third-place match: Calkins/Shapiro, Post Falls, d. Morton/May, Coeur d’Alene, no score reported.

4A

Sandpoint sweeps team titles

at regional tournament

RATHDRUM — Sandpoint, behind champions Jacob Dawson (boys singles) and Neva Reseska (girls) singles), swept team titles at the 4A Region 1 tournament, which concluded at Lakeland High.

Sandpoint’s boys edged Lakeland 56.5 to 49 for the boys title. The Bulldog girls had 64.5 points, with Moscow second with 33 points.

The Lakeland boys doubles team of Cole Andres and Brady Hanna and girls doubles team of Ellie Carlson and Addie Raebel claimed regional titles.

The state tournament begins Friday at Timberline High in Boise.

4A

BOYS TEAM SCORES — 1, Sandpoint 56.5. 2, Lakeland 49. 3, Moscow 21.5.

GIRLS TEAM SCORES — 1, Sandpoint 64.5. 2, Moscow 33. 3, Lakeland 29.

(Top two in each to state)

BOYS SINGLES — Consolation bracket: Second round: Matthew Norton, Sandpoint, d. Ethan Ballard, Sandpoint, 6-0, 6-0. Ryan Genteman, Lakeland, d. Asher Drake, Lakeland, 6-2, 6-3. Semifinal: Norton, Sandpoint, d. Drake, 6-1, 7-6 (1). Placing matches: Championship: Jacob Dawson, Sandpoint, d. Ben Ryan, Lakeland, 6-1, 6-0. Second-place match: Ryan, Lakeland, d. Norton, Sandpoint, 6-3, 4-6, 12-10.

GIRLS SINGLES — Consolation bracket: Second round: Millie Richards, Moscow, d. Elly Tutin, Sandpoint, 6-3, 6-4. Amber Tafoya, Moscow, d. Taryn Hemming, Moscow, 6-3, 6-0. Semifinal: Richards, Moscow, d. Tafoya, Moscow, 3-6, 6-4, 10-8. Placing matches: Championship: Neva Reseska, Sandpoint, d. Maisie Brazill, Sandpoint, 6-2, 6-4. Second-place match: Brazill, Sandpoint, d. Richards, Moscow, 6-2, 6-0.

BOYS DOUBLES — Consolation bracket: Second round: Miles Tomlin/Same Greene, Moscow, d. Ellis Jaeckel/Lucas Ting, Moscow, by injury default. Alex Brown/Toby Tebbe, Lakeland, d. Brennan Johnson/Ivan Steinbachs, Sandpoint, 6-3, 7-5. Semifinal: Brown/Tebbe, Lakeland, d. Tomlin/Green, Moscow, 6-2, 6-3. Placing matches: Cole Andres/Brady Hanna, Lakeland, d. Evan Wiley/Aden Heitz, Sandpoint, 6-4, 6-4. Second-place match: Wiley/Heitz, Sandpoint, d. Brown/Tebbe, Lakeland, 6-4, 6-3.

GIRLS DOUBLES — Consolation bracket: Semifinals: Maile Evans/Patch Howard, Sandpoint, d. Petra Kennedy/Alyssa Halvorsen, 6-1, 6-0. Alice Drucbert/Shelby Wear, Lakeland, d. Cate Gloeckner/Isabel Clark, Moscow, 7-5, 7-6 (7), 10-3. Championship: Drucbert/Wear, Lakeland, d. Evans/Howard, Sandpoint, 6-3, 6-1: Final: Ella Carlson/Addie Raebel, Lakeland, d. Sydney Webb/Aubrey Knowles, Sandpoint, 4-6, 7-6 (6), 10-6. Second-place match: Webb/Knowles, Sandpoint, d. Drucbert/Wear, Lakeland, 6-4, 6-0.

MIXED DOUBLES — Consolation semifinals: Wyatt Thornycroft/Abigail Duke, Moscow, d. Suzie Nichols/Michael Pearson, Lakeland, 6-2, 6-3. Adrian Doty/Owen Larson, Sandpoint, d. Amanda Olson/Brock Raebel, Lakeland, 6-1, 4-6, 10-6. Championship: Thornycroft/Duke, Moscow, d. Doty/Lawson, Sandpoint, 6-4, 3-6, 10-8. Final: Bryce Hanson/Samantha Unger, Moscow, d. Fisher Dail/Berkeley Cox, Sandpoint, 6-2, 6-3. Second-place match: Dail/Cox, Sandpoint, d. Thornycroft/Duke, Moscow, 6-3, 6-4.: