Boys Tennis Advances to Finals, Girls Bounced in Quarterfinal

The Hingham High School Boys Tennis team is heading back to the finals of the South Sectional state tournament for a third straight year.

With a 5-0 win over Scituate in the Div. 2 South semifinals on Wednesday, the Hingham boys tennis team  has advanced to the finals of the South Sectional State Tournament for a third straight year.

The Harbormen have dropped anchor in the sectional final over past few years as they have claimed the prize the last two years with hopes of making it three in a row on Saturday when they will face Sharon High School.

The Harbormen were short a few key cogs in the lineup today, but Hingham coach Ron Bartels was able to dip into the depth pool to pull out the shutout match.

“We don’t have the best players in the league, but we are really deep in the back end,” said Bartels, who has been at the helm for 19 seasons. “After that we still have three or four players that can fill in for anyone of those players on the back end. The depth is really important.”

Josh Port, who has starred on the first doubles team for the majority of the season, moved up to third singles for the first time in his career. Port made his singles debut a strong one with a 6-3, 6-4 straight-set victory.

John Alessi and Sam Krumholz combined to play first doubles even though playing alongside each other hasn’t been their main spot this season.  Ryan Fujii, who usually matches up with Port, also adds depth to the Harbormen.

Hingham is looking for its second straight state championship this season. Last year, the Harbormen were undefeated with a perfect 25-0 record and were successful against Winchester, while two years ago Hingham dropped the state final to Winchester. This year, Winchester will play Thursday in the North Sectional Final against North Andover and could head back to finals yet again with a victory.

The action all starts on Saturday as the Harbormen look to take their first step back to the championship scene with a match against Sharon on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Norwell High School.

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The girls team didn’t fair so well in the Div. 2 South Tournament as the Harborwomen fell to undefeated Medfield, 3-2, in the quarterfinals of the postseason on Monday. The Harborwomen were knocked out earlier than they would have liked, but that didn’t stop head coach Linda Patridge from praising her team after they made the No. 2 team in the bracket uneasy.

“We made them work for every point,” said Partridge.

Partridge watched four of her starters leave from the 2010 team, including state champion Emma Alderman, who won the state individual title last season.

Katherine Whipple moved from third singles all the way to first singles this year.

“She was our anchor,” said Partridge.

Julia Krumholz, only lost two matches to North Quincy. Those two matches were the only blips on her radar this year.