Published: October 06, 2008 08:00 pm      

Central gets by West to win BNC

Trojans claim 7 of 8 flights

TRAVERSE CITY -- It was close, but in the end Traverse City Central prevailed for a third straight Big North Conference tennis title.

The Trojans and Traverse City West met in seven of the eight flight finals along the way.

In the end, Central took the crown with 37 points to West's 33. Petoskey was a distant third with 21, followed by Cadillac (20) and Alpena (nine).

West had an entrant in all eight flight finals, emerging with one champion. Central won the other seven flights.

"Winning seven flights is pretty good," Central assistant coach Denny Malone said, "but the fact that West was in eight finals was very impressive."

Central's Doug Burke won No. 1 singles, dropping only one game in three matches. He topped West's Nathan Feenstra 6-0, 6-0 in the finals.

Fisher Sutherland cruised through two early matches before getting a test from West's Andrew Greenman in the No. 2 singles finals. Sutherland eventually won 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.

"He gave him all he could handle," West coach Sally Lovejoy said of Greenman's effort. "(Sutherland) had a tough, tough match."

Central's Hunter Bergsma won the No. 3 singles title 6-0, 6-0 over Dane Deemer.

West's John Cannon came up with the surprise of the tournament at No. 4 singles. Coming in unseeded, he downed Alpena 6-0, 6-0 before dispatching top-seeded Adam Blachut of Petoskey in a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 match.

Cannon then defeated Cadillac's Andrew Cleary 6-2, 7-6 for the championship.

"He's coming on strong," Lovejoy said. "He played smart and steady. He's really focused. I'm looking for him to do well in regionals."

The Trojans swept all four doubles flights, each a matchup with the Titans.

Harry Malone and Spencer Powell topped West's Zach Hughey and Andrew Farron in the No. 1 finals, 6-0, 6-3.

Ben Watts and Jack Milliken bested Carter Jones and Jacob Nestor and Carter Jones at No. 2 by a 6-1, 6-1 count. Watts and Milliken never gave up more than one game in any of their six sets.

Chris Heimburger and Max Lundmark were able to get by Trevor Tooley and Luke Hessler in the No. 3 title match, 6-1, 6-3. Heimburger and Lundmark dropped only one game in their previous two matches.

Dan Spencer and Glover Kosch won the No. 4 title with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Nick Tooley and Joel Collins.

Both West and Central are in action at regionals Thursday in Midland.

The Twin Bays Invitational, originally slated for this week, has been moved back to next Tuesday and trimmed down to four teams. Originally slated for Sept. 30, it was moved to Monday, and then moved again when the BNC tourney was rained out and rescheduled.