CLAREMONT – While Friday’s CIF-SS Division 3 final proved to be the end of the line for Cypress’ boys tennis team, Centurions coach Joseph Paul couldn’t help but get a tad emotional in recalling the four-year journey it took to get to that very point.
“Words don’t express how proud I am,” said a misty-eyed Paul. “They’re good kids. They’re my boys. The seniors I’ve had for four straight years, they’ve grown and we’ve grown as a program. I wouldn’t trade them for anybody.”
For the first time in the school’s 40-year history, Cypress had advanced to a CIF championship match.
Unfortunately for the Centurions, Oaks Christian of Westlake Village ended their spectacular run through the postseason in a tight 10-8 affair in the Division 3 title match at the Claremont Club on Friday afternoon.
“I couldn’t ask the players to play any better,” Paul added. “They gave everything they had and it was close.”
Coming into the final, Oaks Christian (15-2) seemed to have the advantage in singles play, while Cypress held an edge in doubles action.
Early on, that’s exactly how the match began to unfold.
Led by its top doubles team of Vince Choi and Darrus Lee, the Centurions swept the first round of doubles sets. The three points proved to be crucial as the Lions countered with a sweep of the singles, taking a 3-3 tie into the second round.
Antonio Clark gave Cypress its first singles point during the second round, and wins from Choi-Lee and the No. 2 doubles team (Kiyan Sheikh and Paul Yang) kept the match tied at 6-6 headed into the third and final round.
Choi and Lee notched their third point of the afternoon after making quick work of Oaks Christian’s Samuel Gazzera and Nicklas Louie, 6-1, in the third round.
While they gave Cypress a brief 7-6 edge, the duo was limited to the role of spectators for the remainder of the match.
“It’s tougher than playing your actual match,” Choi said of watching from the stands.” You can’t help your team and you can’t talk to them. All you can do is just hope that they play their game.”
Within a matter of minutes, the Lions reeled off four consecutive wins, two on the singles side, and two critical matches in doubles, swinging the scoreboard in favor of Oaks Christian.
Zachary Denham and Nicholas Gazzera captured the deciding tenth point for the Lions in a back-and-forth 7-5 set against Cypress No. 3 doubles pair of David Hwang and Habin Gu.
After going 0-3, and 1-2 in doubles to start the day, the Lions captured two of three sets in the final round to edge out the Centurions.
“We couldn’t ask for more from our team,” Choi said after the match. “We played our hardest. I’m not mad at anybody and I’m not sad at the way anyone played. It’s just that they were a little bit better than us.”
Contact the writer: kconnolly@ocregister.com
