Phoenix staff report
May 11, 2008 12:30 am
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OKLAHOMA CITY — Two Roughers left it all out on the court — one a little more literally than the other — at Oklahoma City Tennis Center on Saturday.
One got Muskogee’s first boys state championship in 32 years.
The other vomited his way to a hospital trip.
Brandon Finerty beat Harry Warden of Union, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) in the Class 5A No. 2 singles finals, avenging two previous losses to him, including in Monday’s regional finals.
Micah Lemoine, playing at No. 1 singles, lost to Tahlequah’s Travis Filmore 6-3, 7-6 in the semifinals. Filmore went on to win the state title at No. 1 while Lemoine had to withdraw after battling dehydration throughout that match and was unable to play his match for third place.
Finerty, a junior, battled back from a 3-0 deficit to tie the second set, then the lead swapped hands three times before he forced a tiebreaker by winning the 12th game of the set.
The tiebreaker followed a similar pattern as the second set. Finerty went up 3-0 before Warden battled back to tie it with three unanswered points. It was 4-4 when Finerty took charge with what he described as three really aggressive points using his forehead as his primary weapon.
“The last two times I played him I really attacked his backhand, which is usually the weakness in a lot of people’s game. But what I discovered was that his backhand is pretty amazing and in fact, his best shot,” Finerty said. “This time I didn’t attack that so much and mixed it up more. When we got to 4-4, I began charging the net more. I knew if I laid back and let him dictate tempo I would wind up in trouble.”
At 6-4, Finerty’s approach shot with a forehand drew Warden to the net and Warden’s return went long, sealing Finerty’s win
Ironically, the last Rougher to win a state championship was Finerty’s coach, Rusty Bradley. Two Rougherettes pairs claimed No. 1 doubles titles since then. Miriam Yoo teamed with Susan Yoo in 1997 and the former then paired with Kelly Strum to win the 1999 title.
“It would really make it historical if Brandon came back and won No. 1 like I did,” Bradley said, as if to toss out a bit of incentive for Finerty’s final season of eligibility. “To me it’s almost as rewarding as when I did it. He’s been a part of me since he was a seventh-grader.
“I’m proud of him. He played incredibly well.”
Finerty, who started the day with a dominating 6-1, 6-1 win over Brandon Champagne of Jenks, took Bradley’s comments to heart.
“He’s been like a second dad to me, and his record is something to shoot for,” he said. “Those singles guys will get better, but so will I.”
Finerty drew some encouragement from seeing Lemoine back from his hospital trip at the end of his match. The Rougher senior battled apparent dehydration, throwing up on multiple occasions and even asking and getting a medical timeout in the second set.
“When I did that, it wasn’t to talk to a trainer. I just wanted to drink some more water,” Lemoine said. “It was kind of hot and intense in the first set. I threw up once and then went to the bathroom at the end of the set and threw up some more.
“Every changeover I’d throw up. I’d drink something but couldn’t keep it down. But I wasn’t going to throw in the towel. When I got to the hospital, I asked the doctor if he could hook up the IV so I could go back and play for third, but that didn’t go over.”
Said Bradley: “He didn’t have anything to hang his head over. He made Travis beat him. He can hold his head up high.”
Union won the team title with 32 points, Jenks was second with 25, followed by Edmond Memorial with 18 and Muskogee had 14 for fourth place.
Muskogee’s No. 2 doubles pair of Cole Fite and Russ Bradley were eliminated in the consolation round on Saturday to a pair from Ponca City North, 6-2, 6-2.
Fillmore defeated Tulsa Union’s Eric West, 6-3, 6-2, in winning his first state title. The Tahlequah senior who’s headed for BYU had finished third, third and second in his previous three trips.
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