The Baylor boys' players found themselves in a tight race all the way through the 59th edition of the Chattanooga Rotary Tennis Championships. Down one point heading into the doubles finals, the Red Raiders could secure a tie by winning two of the three, or win with a sweep.
They swept.
"Wasn't that fun?" coach Philip Johnson said after Baylor's 19-17 win over St. Xavier from Kentucky. "It was about hanging in there as a team and staying together in one unit."
Baylor started the day in a three-way tie for first in the boys' A Division with Mountain Brook (Alabama) and two-time defending champion St. Xavier. The three teams faced each other in seven of the nine matches to open the day.
Mountain Brook faded, opening the door for Baylor and St. Xavier to battle head to head down to the very last match. The Tigers won two out of their three singles finals, while the Red Raiders took one of four to set up the dramatic doubles finish. The two schools were pitted against one another in all three finals.
"We work on doubles a lot every day," Johnson said. "We take pride in winning doubles because that's a crucial point every match."
St. Xavier was the top seed in the three matchups, but Baylor did not back down. Chad Woodham and Jack Gray started the action with a narrow 9-8 victory, winning the tiebreaker 7-3. Woodham avenged his earlier loss to the Tigers' Brandon Lancaster, who won his second straight singles title.
In No. 2 doubles, Baylor's Cooper Long and Patrick Toomey were down by three games multiple times, the latest at 5-2, before storming back for the 8-6 victory. Toomey battled back from a heartbreaking loss in his singles finals match that lasted more than three hours.
"That's just heart and the sheer will to win -- that's not coaching," Johnson said.
The Red Raiders now held a one-point advantage, and Barrett Schock and Ethan Palisoc sealed the victory with a tight 9-7 win.
"We've been on top the last couple of years, but this time it didn't go our way," St. Xavier coach Kerry Lancaster said. "Kudos to Baylor -- they played really good doubles. We enjoyed it. It was an exceptionally run tournament."
While the Baylor boys won for the first time since 2012, the girls' streak of four straight A Division titles came to an end. The Lady Red Raiders were missing No. 1 Drew Haskins and came in a close third with 13 points. Knoxville Webb was second with 14 and McCracken took the title with 16.
McCracken's standout sophomore Michelle McKamey repeated her singles title.
Both McCallie and GPS finished fourth.
Contact Idris Garcia at sports@timesfreepress.com.