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Cape Central edges Poplar Bluff with tiebreaker in district tennis semifinal
For a second straight year, the Poplar Bluff tennis team had its season ended by the slimmest of margins Tuesday.
Cape Central’s Gabriel Shelton rallied back from match point to edge Poplar Bluff’s Kendric Jones in a first-to-10-point tiebreaker to win 6-1, 4-6 (11-9).
That, along with an 8-6 win by the Tigers in the top-seeded doubles match, was the difference between the teams as Central edged second-seeded Poplar Bluff 5-4 in a MSHSAA Class 2 District 1 semifinal.
“Last season, same thing,” Mules coach Michael Sowatzke said. “It came down to the very last match, last few points.”
Poplar Bluff lost 5-4 in the district championship match last year — also dropping a tiebreaker — and the Mules were looking to get back to the final. Instead, it will be the Tigers facing top-seeded Farmington, which won 5-1 over Rockwood Summit in the other semifinal Tuesday.
Farmington will host Central at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The Mules, who started five seniors, ended the season 4-5.
“It was a good season,” Sowatzke said. “The guys really thought we’d get a chance at swinging at state.”
Poplar Bluff’s Isaac Reid and Jordan Moss already advanced to the Class 2 state doubles tournament, which will be held May 19 in Springfield at the Cooper Tennis Complex.
The Mules got off to a good start Tuesday by taking two of the three doubles matches and the first singles match.
Elijah McAtee won 6-2, 6-4 in the No. 6 singles match for the Mules after he and partner Michael Scott won 8-2 in doubles play. Gavin Vaughn and Jones won their doubles match in a tiebreaker 9-8 (7-5) for the Mules.
In the top-seeded doubles match, Central’s Jacob Ford and Eli Peters edged Reid and Moss 8-6.
The Mules had beaten Central 8-1 on April 18 but the Tigers were without Ford.
Ford beat Reid in the top-seeded singles match 6-0, 6-0 while Peters beat Vaughn 6-0, 6-4 in the No. 2 singles match. Eann Gardner won a first-set tiebreaker 7-3 before taking the second set 6-2 to beat Scott in the No. 5 singles match.
Moss earned a 7-5, 6-4 win at No. 3 for the Mules.
Shelton took the first set of the fourth-seeded match 6-1 but Jones forced the tiebreaker by taking the second set 6-4. Jones led 9-8 with the serve looking to close out the match but Shelton rallied.
“He tightened it up in the second set (to win) and I thought for sure going into the tiebreaker he was going to do well,” Sowatzke said of Jones.
Along with Reid, Moss, Vaughn, Jones and Scott, Poplar Bluff also featured seniors Carson Nagy, Jaden Cates and Aden Bedell.
Said Sowatzke, “It hurts a little bit more.”