CLOSE CALL: Centennial boys drop 6-5 decision to Johnston in nailbiter

Ankeny Centennial’s Holden Smith hits a backhand return during his No. 4 singles match against visiting Johnston on Tuesday. Smith won his match in three sets, but the Dragons went on to post a 6-5 victory. (Photo by Drue Wolfe)

The Ankeny Centennial boys’ tennis team has had some close dual meets this season.

Tuesday’s matchup against visiting Johnston was the closest one yet.

The two squads battled to the wire at the Prairie Ridge courts before the Dragons finally prevailed, 6-5. Six of the 11 matches were decided by a third-set super-tiebreaker.

“Unfortunately, we came out on the short end of the stick,” said Centennial coach Tami Lewton. “We won three of the super-tiebreakers, but we needed to win four!”

**Ankeny Centennial’s Jack Halverson celebrates after winning a point en route to a three-set victory at No. 6 singles. (Photo by Drue Wolfe)**

The CIML Conference rivals split the six singles matches. Centennial’s Caleb Peterson rolled to a 6-0, 6-0 victory at the No. 1 spot, while Holden Smith at No. 4 and Jack Halverson at No. 6 each rallied from a one-set deficit to win.

“I was super happy that Holden pulled his match out. It was a great win for him,” Lewton said. “And I think Jack has really stepped up in singles play after the Ankeny Invite. We came out of singles 3-3 and really thought we were in a good place, although I would have loved to have won Brayden (Wellendorf)’s match at No. 3.”

The Jaguars then won the No. 1 and No. 5 doubles matches to take a 5-3 lead, needing just one more victory to seal the outcome. However, Johnston swept the final three matches.

“We won the first set at No. 2 doubles and thought we had it, but just couldn’t pull it out,” Lewton said.

Ankeny Centennial’s Nick Hiney hits a volley at the net while teammate Caleb Peterson watches from behind during their No. 1 doubles match against Johnston. The duo prevailed in three sets. (Photo by Drue Wolfe)

Pratim Amin made his varsity debut at No. 5 doubles for Centennial. He teamed up with Riley Earp for a 7-6, 6-4 win.

“Mason Sinclair was sick, and Pratim really helped out with some aggressive play,” Lewton said. “We love his competitiveness! All in all, I was disappointed with the loss, but man we are so close in ability to all of these teams. We just need to be relentless in tiebreakers.”

The Dragons improved to 3-3 in the conference and 4-3 overall. Centennial’s records dropped to 1-3 and 2-4.

The Jaguars will play another conference meet against Ankeny (1-5) on Thursday.

**Ankeny Centennial’s Brayden Wellendorf hits a backhand volley during Tuesday’s meet. (Photo by Drue Wolfe)**

Here are the match-by-match results from Tuesday’s meet:

Johnston 6, Centennial 5

Singles–Peterson (AC) beat Launderville, 6-0, 6-0; Love (J) beat Hiney, 6-0, 6-1; Driscoll (J) beat Wellendorf, 6-1, 5-7, 10-2; Smith (AC) beat Soni, 5-7, 6-4, 11-9; Jensen (J) beat Valerie-Garsow, 6-0, 6-2; Halverson (AC) beat Dial, 5-7, 6-2, 10-5.

Doubles–Peterson-Hiney (AC) beat Launderville-Love, 6-1, 5-7, 13-11; Driscoll-Soni (J) beat Wellendorf-Smith, 5-7, 6-4, 10-8; Jensen-Dial (J) beat Valerie-Garsow-Walker, 7-5, 6-2; Jithendra-Austin (J) beat Halverson-Law, 7-5, 4-6, 11-9; Earp-Amin (AC) beat Huneke-Herrmann, 7-6, 6-4.