Polson girls, Whitefish boys hoping for the best at state A tennis

The last time Polson hosted the state tennis tournament was 2013 and something very special happened — the Polson boys tied Billings Central for the team title. Both schools finished with 34 points.

Polson coach Bob Hislop felt his team had just an “outside” shot at winning the three-day event back then, which was plagued with rain delays.

Well, here we go again. Polson is the site for the 2018 state tournament, which begins today in Polson (boys) and Ronan (girls), and runs through Friday. Boys and girls will be in Polson for the final day.

This time, however, Hislop only lists his Pirates as a “maybe” regarding the girls possibly making their way into the top three for a trophy. They finished fourth last year at state.

“We have to play pretty well,” Hislop said to pick up a team trophy.

“We don’t have a lot of wiggle room.”

But the home courts should only help matters.

Polson will have four girls competing in divisional champ Shea McGuinness and fourth-place finisher Josie Peterson along with the divisional doubles champions Kyler Lundeen and Berkely Ellis.

Hardin, Livingston and Corvallis are the three main contenders.

“Shea is in a good place,” Hislop said.

“She comes in as a No. 1, so you just have to go and do your work and after that start knocking people off.”

Peterson, a freshman, was a surprise state qualifier.

“She’s an overachiever,” Hislop said.

“She’s coming in at No. 4, so she will have a tough draw.”

Lundeen, a senior, placed fifth at state last year. She has a new partner in Ellis, a freshman.

“She’s pretty driven,” Hislop said of Lundeen.

“Give her a goal and she will try to accomplish it. Ellis is capable of going right along with her.

“I like where we sit,” Hislop added. “The kids have to step up and do it.”

Glendive won the girls team title last year at Flathead Valley Community College. Billings Central was second and Dillon third.

Billings Central captured the boys title with Hardin and Dillon a close second and third. Hardin, with eight qualifiers, will be the team to beat this year with Dillon, Corvallis and Whitefish in the hunt.

Whitefish has qualified five for state — three in singles with divisional champion Brendan Buls, runner-up Eric Holdhusen and fourth-place finisher Jayce Cripe — and two in doubles — divisional champs Mike Anderson and Forrest Kobelt.

“We are not thinking about who were are matched up with,” Whitefish coach Chris Schwaderer said.

“We want them to go in there and play loose. We know what we can do. It’s just a matter of executing. If we do that, we’ll be OK.”

Schwaderer said Whitefish “has washed out in early rounds, been a disappointment” in previous state appearances.

“I’m hoping this year to hold on as long as we can, win some matches on the front side of the bracket, score some points and let people know we deserve to be there.”

The Whitefish boys were eighth last year at state with six points.

“Eric and Brendan are both really talented singles players,” Schwaderer said.

“They have good strokes, are mentally tough. I think they have a reasonable chance of winning some matches.”

Cripe, a freshman, will have a tougher time coming in as a fourth-place divisional finishers.

“He’s matched up with the No. 1 seed from the Central,” Schwaderer said.

“It’s tough. He’s young, really coming along. He has shown incredible improvement throughout the year.”

Anderson and Kobelt continued to impress Schwaderer.

“A fun team,” he said.

“They are not trained in tennis. They are football, basketball, baseball players who took a liking to tennis the last couple of years. Their athleticism, coachability and competitive attitude make them dangerous. They get better and better every week.”