Panthers beat Central for second time this season

Panthers beat Central for second time this season

Sept. 30, 2000

BY JIM THOMAS
Journal Sports Editor

Not in recent memory has a Panther boys tennis team swept Central of Grand Junction during the regular season. Montezuma-Cortez High School, which had defeated the Warriors the first match of the season at home on Aug. 25, crushed them 5-2 on Sept. 23 in Grand Junction on a cold, wet day.

"They decided to play some tennis before the matches and they did," MCHS head coach Ricky Carver commented. "It was a good win for the kids and for the program."

The Panthers won all three singles matches. No. 1 J.C. Keetso beat Central’s Brad Gonyeau 6-4, 6-4. Keetso played a good baseline game but attacked when he had the opportunity. No. 2 Billy Innis dominated Robert Beunk 6-2, 7-5, although the scores do not indicate that.

"He really didn’t have too much trouble with him. Sometimes, Billy tends to get a little tentative when he gets way ahead. The set got close. I talked to him and then Billy took care of business," Carver said.

No. 3 Jeff Anderson took three sets to take care of Central’s Scott Brett 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.

"Jeff got tight. He played tentative and was not attacking. He needs to learn to play to win," he said. "But he played much better than he has been playing lately."

Central’s Rob Cook and Brian Mill defeated the young team of Troy Tanner and Noah Raucher 2-6, 0-6. The two juniors experience together showed.

"This was the only match Central dominated. Their serving was weak and their positioning was weak," Carver said.

Central's No. 1 doubles team of Brett Krueger and Steve Phillips also won 0-6, 6-7 (2-7) over Keegan Moore and Gerald Keetso.

"They came out tight. They played a much more aggressive second set. But they got tight again in the tiebreaker," he noted.

Cortez’ No. 3 doubles team of Devon Perkins-David Wilckens stopped Josh Henson and Octavio Vargas 6-2, 6-3.

"The guys took control of the net. They made some nice cross-court shots. We also got our serves in," Carver said.

The Panthers’ no. 4 doubles unit of Chance Harrison and Sean Carey went three sets against Josh Sharp and Jacob VanWagoner 6-0, 4-6, 6-3.

"It started to rain and it was turning cold by this point. I think they got in a hurry the second set. They started hurrying their shots. I told them to slow down and just play the game," he said.

Central, coached by former MCHS coach Joel Marquardt, is 4-5 this season, including a recent win over Durango and a three-set loss to Grand Junction.

"Our doubles are starting to come to the net more and getting in the right position," Carver said. "I was worried about Central because Joel is a good coach, but we came out and played well."

The Panthers visited a good Montrose team, one of the favorites to win Regionals, the day before. Montrose won all the matches.

J.C. Keetso lost to John Wickham 0-6, 1-6. Keetso played inconsistently, according to Carver. Anderson lost 2-6, 3-6 to Charlie Burke. Anderson missed some key volleys and made some fundamental mistakes. Innis lost 1-6, 2-6 to Dallas Britton. Carver reported the match was a lot a closer than the scores indicates because there were a lot of deuce games.

No. 1 doubles Moore-Gerald Keetso lost 3-6, 1-6 to Montrose’s Nate Balk-Chase Evans 3-6, 1-6. Moore-Keetso are improving and starting to play better, but still tentative at times, according to Carver. Tanner-Rauscher lost to Montrose’s Zack Brown-Muzzy Kolz 3-6, 1-6. Perkins-Wilcken fell to Matt Smith-Tyler White 2-6, 1-6. Harrison-Carey fell 2-6, 1-6 to Joe Crenshaw-Taylor Day.

"I saw a lot of improvement on the day compared to the last time we had played them. Their coach told me he thought we had improved a lot," Carver said.

The Panthers hosted Fruita-Monument Friday, Sept. 29, and the will host Grand Junction High at 10 a.m. today, Sept. 30, at the Parque de Vida Tennis Courts. Those matches conclude the regular season. Regionals is set for Grand Junction Oct. 6-7.