The last time the Gilford boys’ tennis team lost, the current seniors were in sixth grade. The Golden Eagles win streak of 97 matches dated back to the 2012 semifinals and included the last five Division III crowns.
Trailing 7-6 at No. 6 singles, with all the weight of the match on the shoulders of Bow’s Daniel Silva and the fate of Gilford’s streak hanging in the balance, Silva delivered a come-from-behind, 9-7, victory, lifting the Falcons (12-2) to a 5-2 triumph over the Eagles (13-1) in the regular-season finale for both teams and a rematch of last year’s D-III championship.
The match was moved indoors to the Gilford Hills Tennis Club due to the weather and the need to complete the matches so NHIAA can complete the postseason tournament brackets. Because of the limited number of courts in play, the players were more aware of the overall score of the match than usual, including Silva, a junior.
After Silva went down 7-6, Bow head coach Drew Groves called a timeout. Bow was leading the match, 4-2.
“I said, ‘This is it. If you win this, we win,’ ” Groves said. “Let’s take care of business, basically. (Silva) is a very clutch, very calm, but very competitive player.”
Dillon D’Alessandro gave Bow an early 1-0 lead thanks to an 8-1 win at No. 4 singles over Colton Workman.
No. 1 Brayden Binder’s 8-3 victory over Christian Workman and No. 2 Caleb Olson’s 8-4 win over Tyler Hanf gave the Falcons a 3-0 lead.
Binder’s win was the first time that Bow has beaten Gilford in the No. 1 match, at least during Groves’s 11 years with the program.
“(Binder) constructed each and every point in ways that he was in control and was aggressive,” Groves said. “From the beginning, he was in control. He played patient, constructive tennis. Clearly his best win of the season, one of the best matches of his career.”
Groves also credited Olson’s role in the victory and in the Falcons’ success this season, pointing out that, “I think he has one loss in singles in the past two years. He has two wins over Gilford’s No. 2. He is clearly one of the most valuable players on a team. He has a very quiet determination.”
Olson also teamed up with D’Allesandro at No. 1 doubles, a pair that just came together two matches ago, to defeat Christian Workman and Hanf, 8-4.
“Dillon closed out a fantastic week,” Groves said. “He and Caleb collectively provided three out of our five wins.”
Gilford No. 3 Mike Eisenmann defeated Zach Mullen, 8-4 and Gilford No. 5 Donny Searle defeated Jon Cook in a tiebreak, 9-8 (9-7) to cut Bow’s lead to 4-2.
Cook trailed 5-0 in the tiebreaker, but battled back to nearly pull off the upset, before Silva completed the match with his victory over Adam Donnelly at No. 6.
“Mike Eisenmann played well, but to be honest, Bow was the better team today,” Gilford head coach Terry Wilson said. “Drew (Groves) and I were both very pleased with the great sportsmanship both teams displayed all day long. It’s everything all coaches want to see. Obviously the boys are disappointed because they tried so hard. They might have felt some pressure. We tried to not talk about (the streak), but it was the white elephant in the room. I’m proud of the guys and how they played today. It was a good match.”
The Falcons are more focused on their long-term goal of getting back to, and winning, the D-III title, but for now they are reveling in their victory.
“They’re excited,” Groves said. “It was a lot of fun. We have lost 11 straight matches to Gilford. My thoughts went back to a famous tennis quote by Vytas Gerulaitis. After beating Jimmy Connors following 16 straight losses to him, Gerulaitis said, ‘Nobody beats Vytas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row.’ Well, I was joking with (Wilson), ‘Nobody beats Bow 12 times in a row.’ ”
As for Gilford, “we’re eager to start a new streak (in the tournament),” Wilson said.
The Eagles had already secured the No. 1 seed in the D-III postseason tournament which guarantees them a home match in the quarterfinals on Tuesday against the No. 8 seed, which will likely be Sanborn (7-7). The Falcons, who split a pair of matches against Conant (12-2) during the season, will be either the No. 2 or No. 3 seed depending on the tiebreaker.
A first or second seed guarantees the team home-court advantage through Thursday’s semifinals.
Concord, Merrimack Valley
at Londonderry Invitational
Key players: Concord – Dalton Mutz (1st 100), Ryan Devine (1st 800), Nate Nichols (2nd 800), Matt O’Brien (3rd 800), Jacob Nichol (2nd 300 hurdles), Nate Hillyer (3rd high jump), Liam Devanny (3rd discus); MV – David Reynolds (2nd 3,200)
Highlights/key moments: Mutz won the 100 in the fastest time recorded in the state this season (11.06 seconds) and Devine won the 800 in 2:01.35, leading the Tide to a 1-2-3 sweep and five of the top six spots in that event, to lead Concord in a 12-team non-scoring meet to close out the regular season. Mutz, Colin Conery, Adam Dwight and Pat Hall formed the winning 4×400 relay (3:32). Concord will compete in the Division I Championship on Friday at Merrimack and MV will compete in the D-II Championship on Saturday at Kennett.
Coach’s quote: “This was a great tune-up for states. We had a ton of solid performances and now we need to focus on Friday. For the boys the distance crew continues to have a ton of range running fast in every distance event. Dalton has shown a great deal of maturity during our last couple of meets. He seems very focused and dialed in.” – Concord’s Hayden Daly
Belmont first, Inter-Lakes second,
Kearsarge third, Gilford fifth
at Wilderness Championship
Key players: Belmont – Hunter Dupuis (1st 100, 1st 400), Nick Randos (2nd 800), Zach Ennis (2nd 1,600), Connor Jackson (3rd 1,600), Aidan Rupp (4th 300 hurdles), 4×100 (1st), 4×400 (1st); Inter-Lakes – Eli Dupigny (1st 200, 3rd 100), Ian Daly (1st 1,600), Owen Billin (1st triple jump), Drew Schriewer (2nd pole vault), Alex Losada (3rd 800), 4×400 (4th); Kearsarge – John Cunningham (1st pole vault), Hunter Burns (1st 800), Ben Corbyn (tied 2nd high jump, 3rd 110 hurdles), Trevor Pauling (4th 3,200), Sam Kulacz (4th pole vault), Berhan Kidane (4th triple jump), 4×800 (4th); Gilford – Connor Leggett (2nd 300 hurdles), Korey Weston (tied 2nd long jump, 5th javelin), Shea Therrien (tied 2nd long jump), Sandor Gamache (3rd triple jump); Newfound – Ethan Pruett (1st shot put, 1st discus), Matt Libby (2nd 110 hurdles), Reid Wilkins (tied 2nd high jump), 4×100 (4th), 4×400 (3rd); Winnisquam – Hunter Hinxman (2nd 200, tied 5th pole vault), Richard Fournier (2nd 3,200); Franklin – Christian Shepard (3rd 300 hurdles); Laconia – Dakota Cross (fourth 110 hurdles, sixth 300 hurdles)
Highlights/key moments: The Raiders won four events to win the 19-team Wilderness Championship against Lakes Region and North Country teams to close out the regular season. Belmont’s 71 points topped Inter-Lakes (59) for the team title, while Kearsarge and D-II Kingswood tied for third with 56 points. Gilford (43.5) and Newfound (43) finished fifth and sixth. Winnisquam (17) finished 13th, while Franklin and Laconia tied for 16th with six points each. The Raiders will compete in the D-III Championship on Saturday at Winnisquam.
Hillsboro-Deering fourth
Key players: H-D – Ben Ketterer (1st long jump, 3rd high jump), Zachary Camp (3rd 800), Gabriel Whisman (4th 800, 5th javelin), 4×100 (2nd), 4×400 (3rd)
Highlights/key moments: Ketterer won the long jump with a leap of 20 feet, 9 inches to lead the Hillcats (50.5 points) to fourth place in the nine-team Monadnock Invitational hosted by Conant. ConVal (170.5), Hinsdale (150) and Monadnock (99) were the top three teams.
Concord, Merrimack Valley
at Londonderry Invitational
Key players: Concord – Grave Devanny (1st 200, 1st 400), Ella Fabozzi (3rd pole vault); MV – Emma York (3rd 1,600, 8th 800), Theresa Irving (3rd javelin, 5th high jump, 6th triple jump, 8th 300 hurdles)
Highlights/key moments: Devanny won the 200 (25.72), the 400 (57.89) and ran on the 4×100 and 4×400 relays that both finished third in a 12-team, non-scoring meet. Devanny ran on the 4×100 with Sarah Waite, Katelyn Jelley and Samantha Ossoff that broke their own school record with a time of 50.74 seconds, breaking the record they set earlier last week. Waite, Serena Britos and Kat Jepson joined Devanny on the 4×400.
Coach’s quote: “Grace continues to show how talented she is. She is ready for the championship part of the season and is leading us in the relays.” – Concord’s Hayden Daly
Gilford second, Inter-Lakes third,
Belmont, Newfound, Kearsarge tied sixth
at Wilderness Championship
Key players: Gilford – Lauren Dean (1st 400, 2nd 200), Natalie Fraser (2nd 400, 4th 200), Sydni Lehr (tied 3rd long jump), Brianna Fraser (5th 100), Emma Ramsey (5th 100 hurdles), 4×100 (1st), 4×400 (1st), 4×800 (3rd); Inter-Lakes – Emma Wheeler (1st triple jump, 2nd 100 hurdles, 2nd 300 hurdles, 2nd long jump), Alison Haight (tied 1st high jump, tied 3rd pole vault), Mollie Durand (tied 3rd long jump, 6th javelin); Belmont – Sana Syed (1st 300 hurdles, 3rd 100 hurdles), Alice Riley (1st 3,200, 4th 1,600), 4×800(4th); Kearsarge – Mya Dube (1st 1,600), Lili Baer (3rd 1,600), Jenna Bears (3rd 3,200), Avril Prak (3rd 400), 4×400 (2nd); Newfound – Oceanne Skoog (1st shot put), Ashlee Dukette (3rd shot put, 3rd javelin), Jasmine Peterson (2nd javelin, tied 4th high jump), 4×400 (4th); Winnisquam – Gabby Isabelle (1st long jump, 2nd 100, 2nd shot put); Laconia – Victoria Dean (4th 800), Delia Cormier (5th 1,600, 6th high jump), 4×100 (4th); Franklin – Sydney Ericson (6th 100 hurdles)
Highlights/key moments: Dean set the school record in the 400 and anchored the winning 4×400 with the Fraser sisters and Kaitlyn Callahan, leading Gilford to second place at the 19-team Wilderness Championship, the first time the Eagles have been in the top three since 1996. Gilford’s 66 points was second only to D-II Kennett (74.5). Inter-Lakes (58), White Mountains (56.5) and Plymouth (50) rounded out the top five, while Belmont, Kearsarge, Newfound and Portsmouth Christian all tied for sixth with 37 points. Winnisquam (29) was 10th, Laconia (11.5) was 13th and Franklin (1) was 17th. The Eagles look to be in a good position for a high finish at Saturday’s D-III Championship at Winnisquam.
Hillsboro-Deering sixth
Key players: H-D – Kianna Carter (3rd javelin), Kaylea Davison (4th 400), Samantha Grondin (5th 100), Gabriela Sirmones (6th 100)
Highlights/key moments: The Hillcats finished fourth in the nine-team Monadnock Invitational hosted by Conant. H-D scored 22 points. ConVal (168), Keene (156) and Monadnock (92) were the top three teams.
Merrimack Valley 13, St. Thomas 10
Key players: MV – Dillon Arrant (4 G, A), Coby Mercier (G, 4 A), Max Lacy (2 G, 2 A), Noah Newton (2 G, 2 A), Zac Laroche (2 G, A), Garrett Hunt (G), Davian Haith (G), Peyton Russell (A)
Highlights/key moments: The Pride won their sixth straight game on Friday night.
Coach’s quote: “St Thomas never quit. They fought extremely hard right until the buzzer.” – MV’s Bob Berwick
Records: MV 9-3; St. Thomas 5-8