From Staff Reports

 

HAMPTON, GA – The Americus-Sumter boys’ tennis team got solid performances from singles players Aaron John Ndaayezwi, Braxton Cross and Zacheus Johnson. Their play on the court led to the Panthers’ 4-1 domination of Hampton High School in the first round of the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) Class AAAA State Playoffs on Monday, April 15, at Hampton High School.

Ndaayezwi, the Panthers’ No. 1 singles player, defeated Brandon Del Rio 7-5 in a tie breaking first set. Ndaayezwi went on to dominate in the second set 6-2 to win his match. Braxton Cross won a hard-fought match against Diego Parra. Cross won the first set 6-4, but had to fight harder to win the second set. Cross won the second set in a tie breaker by the score of 8-6. Zacheus Johnson ensured that the Panthers would move on in the state playoffs when he defeated Michael Floyd 6-2, 6-2 in straight sets.

In doubles action, the ASHS duo of Keldrick Flemming/Christopher Wooden lost to the HHS team of Patrick Coleman/Terrell Freeman 6-3, 0-6, 2-6.

However, the other Panther doubles team of Aaron Lewis/Chandler Reddix defeated the duo of Hunter Barber/Tim Hagameir 6-1, 6-0 to win the overall team match 4-1.

As the No. 3 seed in the state tournament, the Panthers will host No. 4 seeded Howard, who upset No. 1 seeded Burke County in their first-round match. The second-round match is scheduled for Monday, April 22. The time of the match is still to be determined.

Unfortunately for the Lady Panthers, they were not as fortunate in their first-round state playoff match on Monday, April 15, at Woodward Academy (WA) in Atlanta. They were swept by the Lady War Eagles 4-0. Teigan Pepito, the ASHS No. 1 singles player, lost to Ansley Carpenter 0-6, 0-6. Kirby Perry struggled against WA’s Sydney Lopez and lost 1-6, 0-6. Rebecca Ingle lost in straight sets to Kavya Iyer 0-6, 0-6.

In doubles action, the ASHS team of Israel Broomfield/Courtney Dew fought hard against WA’s team of Megha Gupta/Roshni Shah, but lost in straight sets 2-6, 0-5.