Titans Outlast Warriors

By Bob Taylor

The boys’ and girls’ tennis teams persevered through rain-postponed matches that originally began on Tuesday and wrapped up on Wednesday, beating rival 3-2 in last regular-season matches.  The 14-2 Titans and 13-3 Lady Titans got victories at Nos. 1 & 2 singles and No. 1 doubles.

For the 4th-ranked (AA) Lady Titans, Becca Bruning blanked Oconee’s Jordan England 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 singles.  Amber Hudson’s win over Katy Kane, 7-5, 6-3 at No. 2, clinched the match.  Caroline McElhannon got the Lady Warriors on the board with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Mary Campbell Cobb at No. 3.  The Lady Titans’ No. 1 doubles duo of Alex Barone and Abby Bruning downed Kimberly Case and Macy Bird 6-1, 6-2, while the Lady Warriors’ No. 2 tandem of Megan Morris and Ivy Do handled Cammi Shaffer and Lana Livesay 6-2, 6-3.  The Lady Warriors are 15-3 and ranked #2 in the state.

For the 2nd-ranked (AA) Titans, Peter Bertran remained undefeated with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Will McDonald at No. 1 singles.  The Titans’ Ray Donovan defeated Sam Ondo 6-3, 6-3 at No. 2, while Oconee’s Connor Smith took No. 3 singles 6-4, 2-1 when North Oconee’s Kerry Nozum retired because of an injury.  In doubles play, the Titans’ undefeated tandem of Seth Taylor and Jeff Bautista downed Drew Horsley and Zach Miner at No. 1 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 to seal the victory, but at No. 2 Warriors’ duo of Hunter Pritchard and Dan Madden downed North Oconee’s Stevie Hemerlein and David Sloan 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) for Oconee’s second point.  The Warriors end the regular season at 16-2 and ranked 3rd in the state.

Up next for both schools are their respective Region tournaments where they are all the top seeds.  North Oconee will host the Region 8-AA tourney on April 19, and Oconee will travel to West Hall High in Flowery Branch for the Region 8-AAA tournament on April 18-19.  Next year, North Oconee will compete in Region 8-AAA due to re-classification.     

Despite heavy rain on Tuesday, parents and players from both schools gathered at the North Oconee gymnasium for a hot dog picnic as Titans tennis coach Candy Crenshaw recognized seniors on both squads.  Playing their last regular-season matches for OCHS are seniors Sam Ondo and Conner Smith, and wrapping up play for the Titans are seniors Stevie Hemerlein, Kerry Nozum, Zack Smith and Seth Taylor.  The lone senior Lady Titan is Alex Barone.  “It was very special for me, personally, to be able to recognize students from both schools,” said Crenshaw.  “Despite the good-natured rival we’re all neighbors and friends,” she said.