RHS places third at state

By Staff
Kim West
MONTGOMERY – The Russellville boys tennis team capped another winning season with a third-place finish at the Class 5A state tournament at Lagoon Park Wednesday.
The Golden Tigers, which have compiled a 56-11 record since 2004 with three Section 4 championships in the past three seasons, finished with 45 points, only two points behind second-place UMS-Wright, while Walker won the title with 73 points.
Seniors T.J. Drake and John Tyler Hardin captured the team's lone state title at No. 2 doubles by defeating Walker's Matthew Prevost and Jannie Westerman 6-4, 6-4.
Russellville's Carson Hutchins advanced to the No. 3 singles finals but lost 6-1, 6-3 to Walker's Oliver Wright, while fellow junior Tyler Malone fell 6-4, 6-2 to Walker's Christian Matthews in the No. 5 singles championship match.
Senior Anthony Turner (No. 4) and Hardin (No. 6) each advanced the semifinals, while Drake, the defending champion, lost to Walker's Reed Pilling in the No. 1 semifinals, and sophomore Kiefer Rea lost in the No. 2 quarterfinals.
The No. 3 doubles team of Rea-Malone advanced to the finals where they lost 6-3, 6-4 to Walker's Matthews and Ryan McGee.
"I'm really proud of these guys for their efforts this year and how hard they worked," said Russellville coach Jimmy Rea. "We will have to work hard but I expect us to be back next year."