The Douglas High doubles teams were able to win the big points. So in the end, the Tigers were able to win all of the close matches and beat the Carson High boys tennis team 15.5-7 on Thursday at Centennial Park.
Five of the six doubles matches in the first two rounds could have gone either way -- but Douglas won all of them. That led to an insurmountable 13-2 lead for the Tigers.
"We played well at times," Carson coach Pat Houlihan said. "We just did not win the important points. That's the difference, who can win the big points.
"I'm not going to take anything away from Douglas. They're a good team. I felt that Douglas was the better team."
The highlight for Carson came when Josh Brekken swept all of his matches in singles, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1. "Josh played very well," Houlihan said.
But Brekken couldn't overcome the play of the Tigers' doubles teams. In the first round, the Tigers' Alex Parra and Jeff Chambers won 6-2 and Tim and Jason Bullard beat Carson's Andrew Araza and Ed Jaquette 7-5 in a match that could have gone either way.
Carson needed a win from Zach Caron and Brandon Waterman against the Tigers Matt and Will Whipple to start climbing back in to the match at the end of the first round. Down 5-6, Caron and Waterman broke serve to force a tiebreaker, but the Whipples won in a tiebreaker 7-6 (7-4).
To have any shot at a miracle comeback, Carson needed to sweep the doubles matches in the second round, but it was Douglas who swept in three close sets.
The Bullards beat Carson's John Whitworth and John McDonald 7-5, the Whipples beat Araza and Jaquette 7-6 (7-5) and Parra and Chambers beat Caron and Waterman 6-4.
"Unbelievable," said Douglas coach Michael Schneider about his doubles' play. "Phenomenal. They just continued what they've been doing.
"In my opinion it goes to show the mental strength of my doubles teams."
In singles, Josh Sorich won 6-2, Tyler Coats won 6-0, Noah Wilson won 6-1 and Jeremy Henningsen won 6-0 and 6-2 for Douglas. Andy Roullard won 6-4 for Carson.
In the other doubles matches, Caron and Waterman won 6-0 and McDonald and Whitworth won 6-4 for Carson while Parra and Chambers won 6-3 for the Tigers.
Despite the loss, Houlihan continues to be encouraged by his team's play.
"The kids are nout out of position," he said. "We're an improved team."