WESTBROOK—The Blazes succumbed at home in the tournament quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon, May 31, dropping both first and second doubles to the visiting Trojans, as well as first singles.

At first singles, Trojan Caleb Richard topped Blaze Garett Sanders 6-1, 6-2.

“Garett has played admirably against top-tier talent all year long,” Westbrook head coach Samuel Johnson said. “Against Declan Archer (Kennebunk), Treutel (Cheverus) and Caleb Richard in the quarterfinal. Garett spent a lot of the season working with our younger players, which will pay off huge for us next spring. Garett found success in the Singles Tournament and nearly made it to the Round of 32. Garett has been one of the key reasons we’ve had the type of success over the past few seasons that we have. Garett took it upon himself to work throughout the offseason and, by doing so, raised the bar for his teammates.”

Meanwhile, over at second singles, Westbrooker Landon Sjoberg defeated Trojan Jack Xiao 6-1, 6-4.

“Landon dominated in his match against Jack Xiao,” Johnson said. “He cruised to a 6-1 victory in the first set. He was a little careless to start the second set and went down 1-4. He then won the next five games to win in straight sets. Landon has been an exceptional player for us on and off the court. His willingness to play ‘look team’ in practice was awesome and he really helped raise the bar for the team. Landon finished the season 12-1, his only loss coming to Quinn Clarke of Portland.”

Then, at third singles, Blaze Dylan Ho bested TA’s Adam Lovejoy 6-4, 6-4.

“Dylan found a ton of success this season and finished 12-1, his only loss coming to Dana Hinchliffe of Portland,” Johnson said. “Dylan always had a way of getting better over the course of a match. His work ethic in the off-season help put him in a position to be successful. Dylan was dealing with some injuries for the entire season and I thought he did a great job of battling through and toughing it out. He had a back injury flare up just a couple days before the match and I thought he did a really nice job of controlling the match against Lovejoy.”

At first doubles, Thornton’s Asher Thompson and Jack Richard defeated Westbrook’s Cam Morrison and Ian Douglass 6-1, 6-2.

“These guys had a ton of success over the course of their careers and were a really fun duo to watch,” Johnson said of Morrison and Douglass. “Cam and Ian had really contrasting styles as Ian was more of a finesse lefty who was a defensive-minded player, and Cam was a righty with some pop and very offensive-minded.

“These two really got better over the course of the season and were the two most tactical players. They would break down their opponents’ tendencies and gameplans like a coach on the court. Cam and Ian were both selfless leaders for us committing to playing doubles when I think they both could have competed for singles spots.”

Finally, at second doubles, Trojans Charles Qu and Adam Charboneau triumphed over Blazes Jack Shibles and Austin Pierce 6-2, 7-6 (7-4). The match was perhaps the best of the afternoon, as Shibles and Pierce stumbled badly in the first set, but regrouped for a ferocious second set, only falling narrowly in a tiebreak.

“Jack and Austin played in the match of the day,” Johnson said, “where they built momentum late but ultimately couldn’t hold on. I thought our guys did a really good job of hanging tough mentally and playing the next point. Jack will be relied on heavily next year and will need to have a really productive offseason to make that leap. Austin was one of the better athletes in our entire conference and one of our team captains. He earned the respect of his teammates by his work ethic and competitive edge.”

The Blazes conclude their spring at 9-4. Westbrook didn’t clash with TA during the regular season, though the teams did meet on the doubles courts in the preseason.

Westbrook and TA have perhaps developed a mild rivalry in the past couple years. It’s been a lopsided rivalry, of course: Since the Trojans have been a top outfit for several springs now, they’ve handily smoked the Blazes at every opportunity, including in the 2016 playoffs – Westbrook’s first postseason appearance since 2010.

But Westbrook has evolved rapidly since Johnson took over as head coach in 2016 and managed to convince that year’s lineup that a little hard work might bring some rewards. In 2015, the team was, in the eyes of many of its members, more a fun way to pass the time than a real, competitive endeavor.

“The tennis program at Westbrook had kind of been forgotten at that point,” Sanders said, the day before TA match. “We had the football coach as our coach; they just needed somebody to fill the spot. We didn’t have any funds, any attention. No one really cared.

“We ended up turning it around, sophomore year, thanks to Coach Johnson. He’s really amazing. He encouraged all of us, kicked us in the butt. We made a huge turnaround. We absolutely came from the dirt: We didn’t have anything, freshman year. We weren’t anything special.”

Interestingly, Morrison recalled being in a more optimistic headspace as a freshman. “I knew we were a young team; I knew we were going to grow,” he said. “The new wave of players was going to grow, because there was a good wave of freshman. In a couple years, we were going to be good, and here we are.”

“I definitely saw room for growth in the team,” Douglass said of 2015. “A lot of the guys who were freshmen at the time were hitting well. But it was pretty discouraging. When you’re one of the worst teams in the State, there isn’t a real serious mindset at practice. You’re just showing up. It was fun – that’s why I started playing tennis; I knew the history and their record before I joined. But it was discouraging. It’s your first year in high school sports, and you’re not very good.”

“It was really that summer, after freshman year,” Douglass said. “Me and Dylan were out hitting three times a week. That’s how all the guys were. We just love to hit – it’s a social thing. Me and Dylan used to go out at like nine o’ clock and turn on the lights and hit for a couple hours. That’s when we started getting a solid base, a better second doubles team, a better first doubles team. We’ve always had good singles players.”

Johnson showed up the following spring – apparently, just when the time was right, just when the team was eager to invest the time and effort in succeeding.

“I remember exactly,” Sanders said, asked what Johnson said to get in his boys’ head the way someone needed to. “He came in, first day of practice, and said, ‘What do you guys want from this?’ Me and the other few guys who were there at the time just said, ‘We don’t want to be the laughingstock; we want to win. We don’t want to be 1-11; we want to be a good team. We want people to respect us.”

“I think a lot of it was the attitude,” Sanders said. “Because we came to the program that freshman year, we were 1-11, we didn’t have the attitude that we could win. Even me, I didn’t think it was possible; I didn’t think we’d be here, today, where we are, 9-3, my senior year. He put that in our minds; he let us know that that was possible, and that he would help us through it – and he really did.”

“Way different, 100 percent different,” Morrison said of the atmosphere when Johnson took over. It was much more fun; he made you want to play tennis for him. He cared about what he was doing. He’s got a bunch of stuff up his sleeve; he always makes you work hard.”

“We started working on our strokes a lot more,” Morrison said. “We had a couple people come in and help with basics. It helped a lot. And we had a guy come in and help at doubles. There’s a lot; I could sit here and talk forever about it.”

“It’s fun for us,” Douglass said, “but that sophomore year, we also started focusing more. For me, I’m super-competitive. So if I’m not winning, it’s not as much fun. So it was a lot of fun to go hit, but we also had a focused mindset: Let’s play loose, have fun, but there’s room for improvement, definitely.”

That spring, the spring of ’16, the Blazes didn’t merely do better than 1-11 – they leapt all the way to 6-6. Upon picking up their second win, the squad realized they truly had potential, and could make the team their own – could really exert some influence over their own fate.

“That was really the big turnaround point,” Sanders said “Our one win, freshman year, was kind of a gimme against the other laughingstock team, if you will. Once the real, physical manifestation that ‘We can do this; we can beat these other teams’ [set in], and we won a lot of the key matchups – that’s why we’re where we are now, because we had that realization, sophomore year, that we’re not just ‘Westbrook Tennis,’ we’re our tennis team, we can do whatever we want.”

“It feels good; it feels deserved,” Morrison said, asked about the team’s newfound success. “We worked for it. It wasn’t like it just came overnight. It might seem like a surprise to everybody else, but it’s not a surprise to us. We knew this was going to happen; we were just waiting for our time.”

This year, Westbrook actually occupied the No. 1 slot in A South for a stretch, having gone undefeated for roughly half the season.

“It’s a different tennis team out here,” Douglass said. “Freshman year, we had these crappy, broken-down courts with lights with glass falling out. The funding came – I’m not sure if it’s because of the success or not; who knows? – but a lot has changed. This is a brand-new team. Sam’s brought a whole new mentality to this team. We’ve really strived under his leadership.”

The Blazes haven’t yet cleared the hurdle of beating TA, but they did finish in fourth place – a slot higher than the Trojans – meaning they earned homecourt advantage for Thursday’s dustup. That, itself, was meaningful.

“Our sophomore year,” Sanders said, the day before the bout, “we made it to the playoffs. We won our first-round match, and then our second round, we went to TA. They were the No. 1 seed in the League and we [lost] 5-0. I played first singles that day against the second-best player in the State. We left there, but we felt all right, after the loss, because we made it farther than we should have, and we played well. Now it’s different, because we’re on the same level as them – they’re coming to us. This is a big game. If we don’t get the win, I won’t have that same feeling, I’ll have that feeling ‘What could’ve been?’”

“It’s definitely a personal one,” Douglass said of the TA matchup. “I’ve played for four years, never even come close to beating those guys. There’s a more competitive mindset, when you get against a team that’s good, but now we can beat them. We know we have to play our best game to beat these guys – they’re not going to be giving us points. It’s going to be a tough match, for sure.”

Johnson took a moment to nod at one more of his seniors, Matt Keef, who saw occasional time on the courts for the varsity squad, but wasn’t a regular starter.

“Matt’s another senior who will graduate for us,” Johnson said. “He has played in varsity matches for us over the years and has been one of my favorite guys to have around. Matt has been instrumental in helping the younger players as well.”

“We played a total of 17 matches: 12 regular season, four scrimmages, 1 playoff,” Johnson said. “That is a credit to this group’s determination and willingness to work. Our motto was ‘Ubuntu,’ which means ‘I am because we are,’ and this group really embodies that term. We are losing a lot of experienced tennis players, but we feel very confident about what we have been able to build over the last few seasons and we are excited about the future.”

Adam Birt can be reached at abirt@keepmecurrent.com. Follow him on Twitter @CurrentSportsME.

Dylan Ho won at third singles for the Blazes.

Landon Sjoberg emerged victorious from his second-singles bout last Thursday.

Jack Shibles paired with Austin Pierce to play a ferocious second-doubles bout. The duo ultimately came up short.

Austin Pierce teamed up with Jack Shibles for a ferocious second-doubles bout; alas, the pair came up short in the end.

Cam Morrison returns a ball at first doubles.

Ian Douglass volleys at first doubles.

Garett Sanders succumbed at first singles for the Blazes; the team fell 3-2 to TA.