Great Bend Post Sports
There are growing pains for all young sports teams. Tuesday, several Panther tennis players made their varsity debuts in McPherson. Newton scored 51 points to take the title with Hays scoring 45 points for seconds. Great Bend finished with 12 points in seventh place.
Coach Chris Manning was pleased with the efforts of freshman Aiden Stacey in the singles bracket. He finished at 2-2 despite opening with an 8-4 loss to the eventual champion from Newton. Stacey lost an 8-2 match against the ninth-place finisher from McPherson, then closed out his first tournament with an 8-1 win against McPherson and an 8-3 win over Salina South to secure 13th place.
Jacob Parks also had a tough draw in the singles bracket, opening with an 8-3 loss to the eventual runner-up from Newton. He rebounded with an 8-6 win over Salina South, dropped an 8-4 match to the 10th-place finisher from McPherson, then lost an 8-2 match to Winfield in the 11th-place match.
In doubles action, Kaden Deines and Kia Brit opened the day with three losses, including an 8-7 (6) battle against McPherson. The pair defeated teammates Chason Ramsey and Kaden Pounds 8-1 in 15th-place match. Ramsey and Pounds opened their day with a loss to the eventual champions from Winfield and also lost an 8-2 match to Newton and an 8-3 match to McPherson.
The Panthers host an invitational on Saturday.