Rain stays away for Granger Invitational
Published 12:00 am Monday, March 21, 2016
LAGRANGE – For most of the two days of the Granger Invitational, the threat of rain was always present.
Unlike last year when the entire tournament was washed away, though, this year’s Granger Invitational went off without a hitch.
There were a few rain drops here or there, but the show never stopped.
The tournament, which featured 70 teams, was held Friday and Saturday, and the boys’ and girls’ champions in the various divisions were crowned on the final day.
It was the 25th edition of the Granger Invitational, which has become the largest team tournament in Georgia.
“It was really a good weekend,” LaGrange coach Kenny Moore said. “We seemed to get mainly positive comments from people, and we appreciate the hard work that everybody in LaGrange does to support the tournament.”
There was nearly a local team celebrating one of the championships.
In Division II, Region 1-AAAAA rivals LaGrange and Columbus ended up meeting for the boys’ championship.
Last week in a regular-season meeting, it was Columbus edging LaGrange 3-2.
It was another close one in the rematch on Saturday, with Columbus once again getting a 3-2 win.
“We were excited about playing Columbus, and we played pretty well,” Moore said. “I think almost everybody played better than they played this past week. We’ll see if we can formulate a plan to beat them, and maybe the third time will be the charm.”
While the Grangers finished with a 2-1 record, the Lady Grangers were 1-2.
The boys’ and girls’ teams from Callaway and Troup also took part in the tournament, and both of those schools served as host locations.
After winning its first two matches against Greenbrier and Allatoona, LaGrange’s boys’ team found itself facing off against a familiar foe in Columbus.
Columbus beat Coffee County and North Hall to make it to the title round.
In the championship match, LaGrange got a win from Tony Choi at number three singles, and the number two doubles team of Gavin Battle and Pierce Skinner prevailed 11-9 in a tie-breaker after the first two sets were split.
Columbus won the other three matches to get the win.
LaGrange opened its tournament stay with a 5-0 win over Greenbrier, and it beat Allatoona 4-1.
The LaGrange girls’ team beat Callaway 4-1 for its lone win, and it lost to Chapel Hill 3-2 and Eagle’s Landing 4-1.
“We have a bunch of young girls who are really dedicated to getting better,” Moore said. “I think we’ve got a bright future, to be sure.”
TEAM WINNERS
Division 5
BOYS – North Cobb II
GIRLS – Dunwoody II
Division 4
BOYS – North Gwinnett II
GIRLS – Lumpkin County
Division 3
BOYS – Calhoun
GIRLS – Coffee County
Division 2
BOYS – Columbus
GIRLS – Northgate
Division 1
BOYS – Dunwoody
GIRLS – Columbus
LAGRANGE RESULTS
BOYS
LaGrange 5, Greenbrier 0
No. 1 singles – Connor Mahan (L) beat Justin Smith, 6-1, 6-1
No. 2 singles – Blade Kendall (L) beat Tyler Arret, 6-4, 4-6, (10-5)
No. 3 singles – Pierce Skinner (L) beat Ryan Anderson, 6-0, 6-1
No. 1 doubles – Jas Singh and Tiger Lakhwani (L) beat Bryson Murray and Cruden Dayton, 6-1, 6-0
No. 2 doubles – Jackson Kuerzi and Tony Choi (L) beat Dylan Walker Heflin and Jackson Person, 7-5, 6-4
LaGrange 4, Allatoona 1
No. 1 singles – Victor Bellolt (A) beat Blade Kendall, 4-6, 6-4, (10-5)
No. 2 singles – Pierce Skinner (L) beat Nick Newton, 7-5, 6-1
No. 3 singles – Tony Choi (L) beat Connor Guersi, 6-2, 6-1
No. 1 doubles – Connor Mahan and Gavin Battle (L) won 6-0, 6-0
No. 2 doubles – Jackson Kuerzi and Jas Singh (L) beat Zach Chiprany and John Beavers, 6-0, 6-2
Columbus 3, LaGrange 2
No. 1 singles – Jacob Yates (C) beat Connor Mahan, 6-7, 6-4, (1-9)
No. 2 singles – Ford Cummings (C) beat Blade Kendall, 6-4, 6-0
No. 3 singles – Tony Choi (L) beat Harrison Brown, 6-3, 6-4
No. 1 doubles – Kyle Canady and Jacob Sholtis (C) beat Jas Singh and Tiger Lakhwani, 6-4, 6-3
No. 2 doubles – Gavin Battle and Pierce Skinner (L) beat Chris Sidor and Parker Swift, 6-3, 5-7, (11-9)
GIRLS
Chapel Hill 3, LaGrange 2
No. 1 singles – Euna Oh (L) beat Emma Jarrett, 3-6, 6-3, (10-7)
No. 2 singles – Emily Austin (C) beat Abigail Brock, 6-2, 6-1
No. 3 singles – Abbi Lynn Lanier (L) beat Taylor Ledford, 3-6, 6-3, (12-10)
No. 1 doubles – Bella Caricari and Carmen Winslet (C) beat Lizzie Wilkerson and Kaylee Kee, 6-2, 6-3
No. 2 doubles – Hannah Moffett and Destinee Watts (C) beat Lauren Yarbrough and Kelsey Anne Cadenhead, 6-0, 6-3
Eagle’s Landing 4 ,LaGrange 1
No. 1 singles – Brooke Amiro (E) beat Abigail Brock, 6-1, 6-0
No. 2 singles – Jessica Starr (E) beat Abbi Lynn Lanier
No. 3 singles – Evette Martinez (E) beat Lizzie Wilkerson, 6-1, 6-1
No. 1 doubles – Venlisa Chambers and Morsi Brahmbhloltz (E) beat Kinsleigh Stephens and Kaylee Key, 6-2, 6-3
No. 2 doubles – Elise Lee and Kelsey Anne Cadenhead (L) beat Jada Mitchell and Nikia Liverpool, 6-2, 6-4
LaGrange 4, Callaway 1
No. 1 singles – Taylor Townsend (C) beat Abigail Brock, 6-2, 6-2
No. 2 singles – Lizzie Wilkersin (L) beat Brooke Townsend, 6-0, 6-3
No. 3 singles – Elise Lee (L) beat YeJi Kim, 6-2, 6-1
No. 1 doubles – Kaylee Key and Kelsey Anne Cadenhead (L) beat Baylee Starling and Brianna Neese, 6-2, 6-0
No. 2 doubles – Abbi Lynn Lanier and Lauren Yarbrough (L) beat YeJin Scho and Alice Lin, 6-1, 6-1
Reach Kevin Eckleberry at (706) 884-7311 or on Twitter @lagrangesports