St. John's Prep, Lexington advance to Division 1 boys' tennis final
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The second singles match between Prep junior Jack Prokopis and Concord-Carlisle sophomore Pedro Nachbin reached a third set, but did not finish due to slippery court conditions.
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'We lost focus, I would say, in the second set, and got ourselves behind the 8-ball,' Luke Prokopis said. 'We haven't really played any third sets this year … so it was a different experience. But we just said to get the first three games and just maintain it. So we're very happy we could close it.'
Lexington doubles partners Sritan Devineni (left) and Evan Saptari celebrate after a point during Monday's Division 1 boys' tennis semifinal against Acton-Boxborough.
Heather Diehl for the Boston Glo
Just feet away on the Newton North courts, Lexington freshman Joshua Chen faced a similar test of resilience in his third set against Acton-Boxborough senior Rishi Dasari on the second singles court.
With Lexington up 2-1 in the match and in need of one more point, Chen got a key break against Dasari to pull ahead 4-3 the third set and never looked back, capturing a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 triumph. Chen's win secured a 3-1 semifinal victory for the sixth-ranked Minutemen (23-1) over the second-ranked Revolution (14-2).
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'Once I got that break in the middle of the third set, I really found my confidence,' Chen said. 'I was really going back and forth in how I was feeling, but that [break] just made me know I could win it.'
Other victories for Lexington came from freshman Daniel Lee (6-2, 6-1) at third singles, and sophomore Lucas Dai and junior Ryan Wade (6-3, 6-2) at second doubles. The first doubles match also did not finish due to court conditions.
The two perennial powers will now have a rematch in the Division 1 state finals, after the Eagles handed Lexington their only loss of the season, 3-2, back on May 6.
Division 2 State
Duxbury 3, Hopkinton 1 —
As his third singles match intensified early in the second set, Duxbury senior Taylor Bettencourt immediately felt lighter when he glanced over and saw his teammates lining the fence and hollering his name.
'I owe it all to them,' Bettencourt said. 'As soon as they started getting rowdy, that's where I started locking in and doing what I needed to do, just using that momentum.'
Bettencourt pulled away for a 6-2, 6-1 victory in a captivating semifinal showdown that was closer than the score indicated — sending the fourth-seeded Dragons (19-3) to the state final for a third consecutive season.
Colgate-bound senior standout Tim Vargas cruised, 6-0, 6-1, at No. 1 singles, and senior Peter Burnham and sophomore Willy Pierce did the same, 6-1, 6-0, at No. 1 doubles.
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'We've got some players, that's for sure,' said Duxbury coach John Bunar. 'We played very well today. This one, if we didn't have our best and they were playing well, we lose it. We played our best today.'
Junior Chavdar Kamenerov and sophomore Owen Gormley won, 6-4, 6-3, at second doubles for the No. 1 Hillers (21-1), and sophomore Joe Krattenmaker led, 6-4, 1-3, before the match was called due to rain.
In the state final, Duxbury will face the winner of No. 3 Sharon and No. 7 Westborough, who play Tuesday at Lexington High (weather permitting).
Trevor Hass reported from Bridgewater.
Matty Wasserman can be reached at
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