AMERICUS – The Americus-Sumter boys’ tennis team qualified for the state tournament by finishing in fourth place in the two-day Region 1-AAAA Tournament.

On Wednesday, April 11, the tournament began at the ASH Tennis Complex. The boys team got off on the right track against Shaw, defeating the Raiders 5-0. Aaron John-Ndaayezwi defeated Yu Joong Kim 6-2, 6-0. Then Braxton Cross defeated Jason Samgmin Cho 6-0, 6-0. The momentum for the Panthers continued when Zacheaus Johnson defeated Vihn Vo 6-3, 6-2. The Panthers had insured a team win with three singles victories.

In doubles action, the team of Flemming/Reddix defeated the Shaw duo of Nick Anderson/Xavier Peacock 6-3, 6-4. Then in the final doubles match, Aaron Lewis/Christopher Wooden defeated Shaw’s team of Jaheem Jordan/Sofronski Mabry 6-1, 6-0.

However, in their second match, the ASH boys were beaten by Columbus 4-0. Aaron John-Ndaayezwi, the Panthers’ number one singles player, lost to Harrison Brown in straight sets 1-6, 1-6. Braxton Cross fell to Kane Miller in a hard-fought match 6-3, 6-7 and lost the tiebreaker 4-7. Zacheaus Johnson lost to William Holden in straight sets 2-6, 0-6. In doubles action, the Panthers’ team of Keldrick Flemming/Chandler Reddix fell to the Columbus duo of Win Cawthorne/Raymond Peebles1-6, 1-6. In the other doubles match, the ASH team of Aaron Lewis/Christopher Wooden fought hard, but lost to the Columbus doubles team of Akash Shan/Julian Watts 0-6, 2-6.

On Day 2 of the tournament, the ASH boys faced Cairo. They fought extremely hard, but lost to the Syrupmakers 3-1. Aaron John-Ndaayezwi lost in a hard-fought match to Luke Lauder 3-6, 4-6. Braxton Cross took Jackson Hand to three sets. Cross was shut out 0-6 in the first set but one the second set 7-5. However. Cross lost the third set in a tiebreaker 4-5. The lone win in singles competition came from Zacheaus Johnson, who won in a forfeit 6-0, 6-0.

In doubles action, Keldrick Flemming and Chandler Reddix lost to Cairo’s duo of Logan Cumbaa and Josh Copeland 1-6, 7-5. ASH fell in the final doubles match when Lewis and Wooden lost to Bryson Cope and Mason Odum 1-6, 0-6.

In spite of the losses to Columbus and Cairo, by virtue of their win over Shaw, the Americus-Sumter Boys Tennis Team ended up being the fourth seed out of Region 1-AAAA and will face West Laurens at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, April 17, at West Laurens High School in the first round of the GHSA Class AAAA State Tournament.

As far as the Americus-Sumter girls were concerned, their season ended in the Region 1-AAAA Tournament. They lost their first match to Cairo 3-2. However, head coach Terri Lee was extremely proud of how the team performed against the Syrupmakers. “They improved so much since the second match of the season when they played this team,” Lee said. In their first match against Cairo, ASH was shut out 5-0.

In the first singles match, Hannah Martinez lost to Doylisha Copeland 1-6, 2-6. Jovan Sykes fought hard in her match, but lost to Callie Lauder 1-6, 0-6. In the final singles match, Kimberly Worthy lost to Caroline White 2-6, 2-6.

However, the ASH doubles teams won their two matches. The team of Kirby Perry/Taylor Garcia defeated Cairo’s duo of Jenn Ross/Mary Harrison 6-3, 6-3. In the second doubles match, the Panthers’ duo of Elena Pagan/Trinedee Sanford defeated the Syrupmakers’ duo of Kaitlynn Bywaters/Sadie Scott 6-2, 6-2. Unfortunately, due to their three singles losses, the Panthers lost the team match, ending their season.