Lake Forest, Warren slug it out for sectional title
After pretty much dominating the 10-team field the past two days it was only appropriate that the Warren boys tennis sectional would go down to the wire Saturday between the host Blue Devils and Lake Forest.
When all was said and done, the two North Suburban Conference rivals both finished with 30 points, but it was the Scouts that walked away with the sectional championship based on tie-breaker rules.
Lake Forest had four singles/doubles qualifiers reach the state meet while Warren ended up placing three into the Hersey-hosted meet beginning next Thursday at numerous District 211 and 214 sites.
Warren junior Denis Bogatov (28-2) continued to shine brightly for the Blue Devils on Saturday as he rolled to first place in singles with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Lake Forest's Pete Wolniak.
Warren's Jon Donnowitz also advanced to state in singles despite a 6-3, 7-5 loss to Lake Forest's Grant Gordon in the third-place match.
Despite his convincing victory in the finals, Bogatov had mixed reviews regarding his play Saturday.
"I'm kind of happy with my serve because I had a lower back injury and I was able to serve hard with no pain there," said Bogatov, who placed third in the state last spring. "The first day of the (sectional) I played pretty well, but today I had too many unforced errors and I wasn't too confident with my forehand's."
In doubles play, Lakes' team of Charlie Scupham and Justin Shea qualfied for state despite a 6-2, 6-2 loss to Lake Forest in the third-place match. The Eagles had a solid showing as a team Saturday with a third-place score of 18 points.
"Their play (Scupham and Shea) this weekend was not reflective of how well they have played all season long," said Lakes coach Bryan Plinske. "Today they know they can take care of the ball a little better than we did, but hopefully we can use this as motivation for next Thursday to play like we can play."
Fedorov and Siczek are remaining cautiously optimistic headed into their second straight state meet.
"We're excited, we're playing really well, and we're confident," said Fedorov. "I feel like we can compete with any team at state if we're playing well," added Siczek.
The rare tie-breaker left the Blue Devils headed home without the championship plaque, but they still had a very good sectional meet.
"I've seen tie-breakers happen before, but I don't remember one very recently," said Warren coach Greg Cohen. "Jon Donnowitz's win yesterday was one of the biggest wins we've had here, and I think our second doubles team has a great future."
Cohen likes the chances of his qualifiers headed into the double-elimination state meet.
"Konrad and Igor have meant so much for this program and they are great young men," Cohen said. "He (Bogatov) is a great player and I wouldn't count him out of anything next week."