ST. GEORGE — The Desert Hills High School boys tennis team won the 4A state championship on Saturday.
Playing at Salt Lake City’s Liberty Park, the Thunder won two of the five brackets and made it to the semifinals in two others, while Region 9 rival Crimson Cliffs placed first in two singles brackets and made it to one doubles semifinal.
The end result was a three-point margin of victory for Desert Hills, giving the school its third-ever boys tennis state title and its first since 2011.
Runner-up Crimson Cliffs dominated in the first and second singles brackets, as senior Max Miner and his sophomore brother Adam Miner both took state for the second year in a row, winning every match in straight sets as the top seeds.
However, the third singles bracket saw an upset, as Desert Hills sophomore Brenan Holman, despite being seeded sixth, not only made it all the way to the finals but also ended up defeating the No. 1 seed, Orem senior Tyler Jenson, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Desert Hills head coach Christian Thurgood said that even though Holman lost his first set to Jenson, he remained confident.
“Every time I would go out and talk to him, his spirits were high and he knew he could win,” Thurgood said. “He never lost his confidence. And so in that second set, he came out and won 6-3 and was playing with a lot of confidence.”
“I think as soon as the Orem player recognized that, he knew it was going to be a battle,” Thurgood added. “And so when it went to that, the third set was a back-and-forth battle but Brenan was able to pull it out.”
Thurgood noted that this is Holman’s first year as a varsity player.
“He was on JV last year and then he made a big jump to this year,” Thurgood said. “To win a state championship in his first year as varsity was pretty cool. I’m just really proud of the way that he played and handled his emotions.”
Although Holman’s upset win put the Thunder within striking distance of the state title, there was still one more key finals match still being decided. In the first doubles bracket, the No. 2 seeded Desert Hills duo of Tyson Wilkins and Will Gardner went up against No. 1 seeded Logan’s Easton Jenkins and Caleb Xu in the finals.
Wilkins and Gardner ended up prevailing over the Logan duo, 6-4, 6-2, to win the bracket.
“It came right down to the wire,” Thurgood said. “I mean, after Brenan won, we knew that we still had to win that final doubles match to eke out (the championship) against Crimson. Because up until that point, we were trailing Crimson because they had won both first and second singles already. We were pretty positive that they were ahead of us by a couple points. But when Tyson and Will won that final match, we knew that we had gotten enough points to get past them.”
Desert Hills finished with a total of 45 team points, while second-place Crimson Cliffs scored 42. Coming in third place with 33 was Orem, while defending state champion Dixie finished fourth with 30 points.
Dixie won the No. 2 doubles bracket, as top-seeded Austin Beckstrom and Lincoln Crooks first cruised past both Murray and Snow Canyon in straight sets on Friday. Then, on Saturday morning, the Flyer duo faced Tanner Matheson and Ethan Mathews of Crimson Cliffs, the bracket’s No. 4 seed. In that semifinal match, Dixie prevailed in three sets, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, thereby advancing to the finals, where they faced Orem’s Kyle Davidson and Steele Dayton, the No. 7 seed. Beckstrom and Crooks, both of whom are seniors, then defeated the Orem pair in straight sets 6-3, 6-1, to win that bracket on Saturday afternoon.
To see complete results for all rounds and brackets of the 4A state tournament, click here.
“We definitely weren’t the favorites but we knew on our team that we could do it,” said Thurgood, who just finished his first year as the Thunder’s head coach.
“They all really rose to the occasion and were focused and determined,” he said, “We didn’t end up winning region but we knew we could have won. We ended up making a couple of adjustments to the lineup and it ended up paying off for us. Everybody played their role really well and accepted their role. It has been such a fun team to be part of.”
Thurgood also praised the team’s chemistry.
“We just had a great group of kids, a great team atmosphere and great camaraderie among the teammates and everybody,” he said. “I mean, it was just electric, you know?. Everyone was cheering for each other and pulling for each other. They just really helped everybody pull through.”
Desert Hills officials said the players and coaches will be recognized at a gathering in the school’s auxiliary gym at 8:30 on Monday evening.
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