By Staff
Congratulations to the Dowagiac, Brandywine and Buchanan girls tennis teams which qualified for the Michigan High School Athletic Association state finals next weekend in Holland.
The Bobcats, Bucks and Chieftains slugged it out on Thursday at Leeper Park in South Bend, Ind., along with Edwardsburg, for a chance to compete for the state championship in Division 4.
The Bucks, Chieftains and Bobcats shared the regional championship in 2004 and were looking to do the same this year. Edwardsburg was trying to advance to the state finals after missing by a single point last season.
In one of the most dramatic finishes in recent memory, Dowagiac was able to pull out the regional title as senior Ann O'Keefe defeated Edwardsburg's Alia Zander in the final match of the day at No. 2 singles.
The win by O'Keefe gave Dowagiac the undisputed championship this season, the school's second title ever, while the loss kept the Eddies from advancing for the second straight year.
Thursday's tournament brought out what is best about high school athletics.
The tension was so thick you could have cut it with a knife.
While everyone on the outside of the court knew what was at stake between O'Keefe and Zander, the two competitors did not.
All they knew is that they wanted to win a regional championship as a singles player as well as helping their team.
The Chieftains, Bucks and Bobcats will make the trip to Holland and try to improve on last year's finishes.
We would like to congratulate each and every player who competed on Thursday.
They gave it their all and for most of them, had nothing left to give when it was all said and done.
We would also like to wish good luck to the Bobcats, Chieftains and Bucks next weekend in the state finals.