The 2018 high school tennis season came to a close on Saturday under the warm sun and clear blue skies at Lewiston High School.

Six teams in three classes battled it out, the best of the best looking to take home a state title.

Jay Harper stepped into the leading role at Freeport High School back in 2001, and to say the least, things began well. The Falcons that year advanced to the regional final in Class C.

The saying goes that one must take advantage of championship opportunities because you never know when, or if, you will get another chance.

This was certainly the case for Harper and his Falcons, who up until last week had not sniffed a regional final since that 2001 campaign.

That is until this year, when the Falcons, behind a few juniors, a talented sophomore and some newcomers from the freshman class, found their flow.

A 9-3 regular season garnered the No. 2 seed in Class B South, and after home wins over York (quarterfinals) and Yarmouth (semis), Freeport found itself on the courts at the Wallach Tennis Center at Bates College in the regional final against Western Maine Conference foe Cape Elizabeth, Class B state champs several times over, including three straight titles from 2013-15.

“Cape was down a bit this year, but that is still a heck of a team over there,” said Harper moments after his Falcons dispatched the Capers, 4-1.

For those keeping score, this was the first regional title in the history of Freeport High School boys tennis, sending the Falcons to their first-ever State Class B championship.

“It has been 18 years to get back here, and to reach the goal of making it to states, it is hard to believe,” Harper said. “The team talked at the beginning of the year about winning it all. They stayed together and played together.”

Then came Saturday at LHS. As Freeport and Class B North champ Caribou warmed up, the early morning coolness began to wear off, with the temperatures warming a bit prior to the 9:15 a.m. start.

The Vikings had made the five-hour trip from northern Maine on Friday, with the team resting in a nearby hotel, while Freeport arrived early Saturday morning, hoping to fulfill a dream.

Sophomore Clay Canterbury, with his father (Clay) and a large contingent of Freeport tennis followers cheering loudly on each point, gave Freeport a 1-0 lead as Canterbury won his match, 6-1, 6-2. After his win, Canterbury wondered up to the doubles courts, where both Freeport teams were locked in tight battles.

Freeport’s No. 2 doubles team, senior Evan McKittrick and freshman TJ Whelan had just dropped a 6-2 opening set. One court over, the Falcons and Vikings battled into a first-set tiebreaker at No. 1 doubles, both teams looking for an early advantage. It was the Caribou duo of Bailey Griffeth and Sawyer Deprey that came out on top, winning the thrilling tiebreaker, 9-7, for a 1-0 set lead.

As the second set wore on in both doubles matches, the Falcons found themselves in trouble. The top doubles team of Sully Smith and Aaron Rusiecki trailed throughout and eventually dropped the set, 6-3, as Caribou evened the match at 1-1.

Less than a minute later, Caribou claimed a 2-1 lead after a 7-5 second-set victory at No. 2 doubles.

When Freeport No. 3 singles player Liam Gould fell in his opening set to Gabe Rand, 6-3, Harper hoped that Gould might be able to battle back, win the second set and force a third while top singles player Wes Goodwin began his match with Viking Parker Deprey.

Tough injury

On a point that Gould had played hundreds of times this season, something went wrong.

As he reached for a Rand forehand, his ankle rolled. Gould managed to remain on his feet, but hobbled to the net.

After an injury timeout and a quick tape job from the tournament trainer, Gould gutted out the first game, holding after four deuces for a 1-0 lead in the second set. The match remained on serve for five more games, but Rand eventually wore Gould down, especially after the Falcon again limped off the court, the troublesome ankle keeping him from being the player that he had been all season.

Still, Gould hung tough, forcing two more deuce games before falling, 6-3, 6-3.

That win gave the Vikings the Class B championship.

No doubt disappointed, Goodwin pressed on in his No. 1 singles match. He won the first set, 6-4, dropped the second in a tiebreaker, then won a third-set tiebreaker, 10-6, to bring the final score to 3-2 Caribou.

“Caribou was just better today,” said Harper, who discussed the future of the Falcons. “There is a bright future, and next year we will be loaded with a good group of juniors coming back and some good freshmen. We could be back here next year.”

We will certainly see.

Praise to MPA

Over the past 13 years, the Midcoast has been blessed with several standout tennis players.

Mike Hill of Mt. Ararat High School advanced to the Schoolboys championship four straight seasons, winning the title from 2007-09.

Then came Brunswick’s Maisie Silverman. She advanced to the Schoolgirls title match four straight years, taking home the championship in 2012.

Nick Mathieu of Mt. Ararat came next, a Schoolboys champion in both 2016 and 2017.

And this year, Peter Mao of Mt. Ararat advanced to the Schoolboys semifinals.

Over the last 13 years, Memorial Day Monday has been spent covering the final rounds of the tournament, either at Bates College or, in case of inclement weather, inside the Racket & Fitness Center in Portland.

A shoutout has to go out to MPA tennis gurus Don Atkinson and Cooper Higgins, who each season spend countless hours working high school tennis.

Atkinson is the voice you hear, the man announcing the competitors in both the schoolboy/schoolgirls tournaments, along with being right there during the team tournaments.

Atkinson is the first person a reporter sees, and he greets you by saying, “glad you’re here.” Atkinson, who also is the point of contact for several tennis tournaments throughout the state, truly loves high school tennis, and the athletes who work hard day-in and dayout to be the best they can be.

Atkinson and Higgins, along with the MPA’s Michael Bisson, make covering high school tennis easy. They keep us all organized, answer all of our questions expertly and point us in the right direction.

For all that you do, I thank you. Hopefully, we have a lot more years together promoting this great sport.

BOB CONN is The Times Record sports editor. He can be reached at bconn@timesrecord.com.