Deja two

WINCHESTER — At Saturday’s Patriot Invitational, Brock Wasson and Gabe Overton rallied from down a set to lift the Patriots over Evansville Central.

Five days later, Wasson and Overton gave an encore against a sectional foe, coming from behind to clinch a riveting win.

The Jay County High School boys tennis team scraped past the Winchester Golden Falcons by a 3-2 margin on Thursday.

“I’ll take it,” said Jay County coach Donald Gillespie. “I feel more happy about this 3-2 win than I did Monday night when we blanked somebody 5-0. It’s the way we play … tonight, I thought the kids got a little gutsy and they did play.”

Nobody needed more guts than Wasson and Overton, who dropped the opening set to Rogan Auker and Kolby Hinkle, 6-4.

After the pair produced a 6-4 victory in set two, all eyes turned to their final set to determine the outcome.

With the match on the line, the Patriot pair adjusted to cover as much ground as possible.

“We noticed that wherever we weren’t, he was able to hit it,” Wasson said. “So we spaced out more and just stayed back.”

The adaptation helped spark a 6-2 set win, which the duo sealed with an Overton forehand winner setting up match point, where it was Wasson’s turn to smash a forehand to finish the match.

“Today was a rough start, for sure,” Overton said. “And then in the second set we got it back, and third set, it was 2-2 for the team, so at that point, we knew we had to get the win.

The resilience of the No. 2 doubles team was a welcome sight for Gillespie as his squad tunes up for more pressure-packed late-season battles.

“That’s pretty special for those two young men, and it shows they’re never going to give up,” Gilliespie said. “If I’ve got a doubles team out there and the match is on the line, I probably want them out there, because they’re not going to quit for me”

The No. 2 doubles unit’s chance at glory materialized due to strong results on the singles courts, where the Patriots won two of three.

Henry Dirksen dominated his tangle with Jacob Rheinhart, winning 6-2, 6-2. Henry Dirksen’s powerful serve and confident demeanor helped spur the result, and he closed out the match with back-to-back aces.

“I was just trying to get my first serves in,” Henry Dirksen said. “Then, if I’d get them in, I was in charge of the point, and I had confidence.”

At No. 3 singles, Clark Wellman provided a pivotal win over Bryce Weigand. Wellman’s ability to adapt was essential in the victory.

“Whenever I was standing back at the baseline and just hitting them hard, I noticed he kept hitting them into the net, so I used that to my advantage.”

That advantage piloted Wellman to victory despite a close second set, 6-2, 7-5.

The Patriots (11-4) dropped both No. 1 positions as Paul Dirksen fell to Jayden Beeson 6-3, 6-3, while Kadyn Carpenter and Alex Miller lost to Foster Kratoska and Aiden Mendenhall.

The match win marks the Patriots’ third of the week, and perhaps one of the most important, as a rematch with the Golden Falcons (9-5) in the postseason is well within the realm of possibilities.

“We’re hoping we don’t have to draw each other in the first round,” Gillespie said. “That way, we can maybe meet in the finals.”