KHS girls, Broussard clean up at Eastman

SAWYER BROUSSARD Kilgore High School tennis coach Mac Blackstone has a saying - "I'm not the one out there hitting that ball."

Maybe not, but the ones who are "hitting that ball" for the KHS tennis team did quite well for themselves in the Texas Eastman Classic tournament over the weekend, with Kilgore players taking both boys and girls singles titles and the girls doubles title.

The KHS girls finished first in a tournament featuring 14 area teams and over 200 players, and Kilgore's Sawyer Broussard won the boys singles title, an incredible achievement, considering the fact that the singles tournament featured a 40-player field.

Broussard defeated Hallsville's Jonathan Bayne, 6-1, 6-1, in the finals at the old Longview High School. He could see Bayne again in the district tournament, coming up next month in Jacksonville.

Also in boys singles play for KHS, Trevor Compton advanced all the way to the third round in the consolation matches.

Kilgore's Hailey Smith won the girls singles tournament, played at Pine Tree High School. Smith lost the first set, 6-1, but came back for a 6-1, 6-3 win. She defeated a student from White Oak that had beaten Smith's teammate, Erica Greer, in the semifinals.

Also in girls play, Brittany Conner and Jade Climer won the girls doubles crown, winning three matches to claim it. Emily Mitis and Kayla Rosen of Kilgore won the girls doubles consolation. Girls doubles matches were played at Longview High School.

In boys doubles play, a pair of Kilgore teams - Randy Bass and Andy Wright, and Travis Perkins and John Carlson - were to face each other in the consolation round, but ran out of time. Blackstone said the two teams will be allowed to face each other this week at KHS to decide the consolation winner.

Kilgore won the girls division with 115 points. Henderson finished second with 90, and All-Saints third with 70. All-Saints won the boys division with 150 points; White Oak was second with 130, and Pine Tree third with 120. Kilgore totaled 95 points, good for fourth place.

The Bulldogs will host another tournament this weekend, the Spring Break Madness tournament, which will begin Friday and likely be held to one day of play. Joining KHS on the courts will be players from White Oak, Grand Saline, Gladewater, Quitman, Nacogdoches and Texas High's junior varsity.

KHS plays in a tournament at John Tyler on March 31-April 1, and visits Jacksonville for the District 17-4A tournament on April 11-12.