The first state championship in Crimson Cliffs High School’s short history will likely be remembered for Max Miner, Zachary Sodorff and Liam Duffin’s individual titles. After all, coach Colin Brown said that should be all the Mustangs would need to sew up the team title.
That might have been true, but Brown was able to rest a little bit easier Saturday because his doubles-team tandem of Jacob Brown and Jack Hodges earned a couple of extra points, too.
In the end, it was enough for the Mustangs to earn 20 points and hold off Logan (16) on a warm, cloudy afternoon at the 4A state tourney at Liberty Park. Pine View took third place with 10 points and Dixie and Green Canyon had nine each.
Even though Southern Utah schools have a distinct weather advantage, the schools from Cache Valley didn’t give up quietly.
The Grizzlies rode the talents of the Xu family — senior Ashton and freshmen Caleb and Phillip — to take the lead after the first day and were also feeling confident enough to cleverly invite the Jazz Bear for post-tourney festivities, but Brown said the talent level of his team didn’t have him worried.
“They took care of business,” said Brown, whose team finished behind Dixie at its region tourney last week but had all three of its singles players earn No. 1 seeds. “We got the points from those boys, but we needed a little more.”
Sodorff and Duffin each won straight-set matches against Logan opponents along the way and, on the return bus trip to St. George, Brown likely had plenty of time to recall how everything had to go the Mustangs’ way for them to earn, and then celebrate the achievement. Besides the trophy, he admitted a police escort was set up to greet the team when they returned home.
Logan’s plans didn’t go as well, but the Grizzlies might want to keep the Jazz Bear on speed dial. While Crimson Cliffs hopes to reload, the Xu brothers should also be back next year and Caleb and Phillip gained a lot of experience in both Saturday matches, defeating their Green Canyon and Pine View opponents in lengthy, three-set matches that delayed the announcement of the final team scoring until most of the other schools had left.
4A boys state tennis tournament
At Liberty Park, Salt Lake City
Saturday’s results
Team scores: 1. Crimson Cliffs 20; 2. Logan 16; 3. Pine View 10; 4. Dixie, Green Canyon 9; 6. Desert Hills 8; 7. Ridgeline 6; 8. Ogden 4; 9. Cedar Valley, Mountain Crest 10; 11. Cedar City, Uintah 1.
Individual results
No. 1 singles
Semifinals: Max Miner (Crimson Cliffs) def. Thatcher Ellis (Ridgeline) 6-1, 6-0. Jaden Wittwer (Desert Hills) def. Kimbal Ricks (Logan) 6-4, 6-2.
Championship: Miner def. Wittwer 6-0, 6-1.
No. 2 singles
Semifinals: Calvin Felt (Green Canyon) def. Gavin Bishop (Dixie) 6-1, 6-3. Zachary Sodorff (Crimson Cliffs) def. Ashton Xu (Logan) 6-4, 6-1.
Championship: Sodorff def. Felt 6-2, 6-0.
No. 3 singles
Semifinals: Liam Duffin (Crimson Cliffs) def. Davis Low (Ridgeline) 6-0, 6-1. Paul Miller (Logan) def. Chase Poulton (Dixie) 6-1, 6-0.
Championship: Duffin def. Miller 6-2, 6-3.
No. 1 doubles
Semifinals: Coby Christensen-Caden Koch (Pine View) def. Dohoon Kwag-Jonsung Lee (Logan) 6-3, 6-2. Brady Madrid-Josh Barney (Dixie) def. Jacob Brown-Jack Hodges (Crimson Cliffs) 6-4, 6-4.
Championship: Christensen-Koch def. Madrid-Barney 6-0, 6-4.
No. 2 doubles
Semifinal: Bensen Parry-Tayen Clark (Pine View) def. Mark Davis-Isaac Parker (Mountain Crest) 6-3, 6-4. Caleb Xu-Phillip Xu (Logan) def. Jeff Huband-Luke Olsen (Green Canyon) 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (5).
Championship: Xu-Xu (Logan) def. Parry-Clark (Pine View) 6-3, 1-6, 6-2.