Aug. 29—FAIRMOUNT — The journey to the Madison County Boys Tennis Tournament championship still very much runs through the Lapel Bulldogs.
Showing all the fire and emotion befitting the drama of the occasion, freshman Kaleb Barnett survived a three-set battle in scorching heat to take the No. 2 singles match and break a 2-2 tie, sending the Bulldogs home for the county title match Friday afternoon after a 3-2 win over defending champion Madison-Grant.
The victory marks the return of Lapel after an injury-riddled, one-year absence from the finals as the Bulldogs seek their 10th Madison County title in the last 11 years.
“Last year was tough, but a lot of these guys got experience when maybe they wouldn’t have gotten varsity experience,” Lapel coach Justin Coomer said. “I know (Madison-Grant) lost some guys, but they’re still a good team, and they’re the champs. It takes a lot to knock them off.”
Barnett’s match was not only a war of attrition — the match-time temperature was 91 degrees — but also saw three major swings in momentum.
Frequently pumping his fist, shouting excitement at himself and exhorting his fans outside the fence with back-and-forth banter, Barnett’s power and touch caught M-G senior Ben Pax off guard. As a result, the Lapel freshman took the first set 6-0.
“We knew it would be a longshot to repeat. No. 1, we have a target on our back and, two, we graduated six of our top eight players from last year,” M-G coach Tony Pitt said. “But I’m proud of the fight these kids have put out this week, particularly yesterday against Frankton.”
Pax gathered himself and seemed to flip the match, taking the second set 6-1 and was up a break at 2-1 in the third and decisive set.
With the other matches completed, Barnett knew what was on the line.
“I saw (Quinn Wilkins) win and the people beside me win, and I said, ‘Alright, let’s do this,'” he said.
In that moment, he seized the momentum back and broke Pax’s serve to get back to even.
Barnett never let Pax back up, winning the next four games to capture his own 6-0, 1-6, 6-2 win and, as he had done throughout the match, let his excitement be known as match point went his way.
“I had a lot of people around me cheering me on, my team, all of the fans, they gave me a lot of energy to come back and win,” he said. “I have to give it to my family. Winning is an important part of my family and being competitive is encouraged. My whole family gives me so much energy.”
“I told him that he is built for these types of moments. He likes for people to watch him,” Coomer said. “I didn’t think the pressure would be too much for him.”
The match came down to Barnett’s battle after the teams split the other four matches.
Madison-Grant senior Luke Gilman dominated Hogan Bair for the Bulldogs at No. 1 singles by a 6-1, 6-1 score while Quinn Wilkins of Lapel evened things up with a 6-3, 6-0 win at No. 3 singles over Leo Hood for the Argylls.
There was also a split of the doubles matches as Lapel’s Tyler Cash and Cam Novak took a 6-4, 6-3 win over Keagan Brown and Lucas Richards in the No. 1 slot while M-G’s Luke Nelson and Lucas Query knocked off Bode McClintock and Aidan Gooding 6-4, 6-2.
The Bulldogs will host Pendleton Heights on Friday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. for the 2024 Madison County title. The Arabians have been runners-up the last three years, losing twice to Lapel and last year to Madison-Grant, and last won the championship in 2013.
The Lapel coach knows the Arabians are experienced, returning every player from last year’s team. He also knows his squad has very little time to rest up for Friday’s matches.
“You can’t win it if you don’t get there,” Coomer said. “I told our guys earlier this week that if they didn’t hydrate and take care of their bodies, they’d have no chance to lift that trophy Friday night.”
“That should be a good matchup,” Pitt said. “I know Pendleton has a lot of players back and, even though we beat them 4-1 in the finals last year, there were a lot of close matches.”
Contact Rob Hunt at
rob.hunt@heraldbulletin.com
or 765-640-4886.
