North Kitsap will once again be well represented in the district tennis tournament after another dominant showing on its home courts for the Olympic League Tennis Championships Oct. 23-24, but the Vikings won’t be the only school with state hopefuls next weekend.
Districts will take place Nov. 1-2 at the Kitsap Tennis and Athletic Center.
The defending WIAA Class 2A champion NK Vikings showcased another season of depth, especially in the doubles bracket. No. 3 seed Grady DeVries and Spencer Gillespie wouldn’t drop more than two games in a single set before losing the first set 2-6 to No. 1 seed Nathan Basden and Luke Floodstrom of Port Angeles in the championship match. Despite the slow start, they managed to shake it off and take the final two sets 6-2 and 6-3 to win the doubles title.
No. 2 seed Mason Repp and Justin Gallant, who lost to DeVries and Gillespie in the semifinals, would claim third place with a 6-3, 7-5 win over No. 5 seed Austin Worthington and Keatyn Hoch of Port Angeles.
No. 8 seed Rocco Targett and Aiden Reister, who threatened to upset the No. 1 seed in the quarterfinals, took a third doubles spot for the Vikings with a fifth-place finish over Topher Welch and Reed Grandt from Bainbridge.
A fourth doubles team from North Kitsap, No. 12 Greysen Prichard and Jonas Funston, won the right to serve as a district alternate.
The successes were more widespread in the singles bracket.
Top-seeded Jonah Pantig from Olympic came back from a 5-3 deficit in the final third set to beat No. 4 seed Dayshawn Harper from North Kitsap 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) in the semifinals. Pantig would go on to win first place 6-4, 6-0 over No. 3 Joseph Cao from Bremerton, who made the championship match after upsetting No. 2 Indigo Gallagher-Zapf from North Kitsap.
Gallagher-Zapf would claim third place over teammate Harper 7-5, 6-2, and No. 5 seed Garner Hall from Bainbridge took fifth place over No. 6 Tate Alton from Port Angeles.
Austin Williams also gave the Spartans a potential alternate spot in districts.