Inclement weather forced cancelation of the expected senior night dual and postponed the festivities to Monday.
Forced to break from a normal tradition, Platte County faced a tougher-than-normal competition while celebrating the careers and contributions of Gavin Nichols, Aaron Vaughan, Daniel Bunge, Quentin Miller and Jacob Isaacson. The circumstances made the 5-4 victory over visiting Savannah on Monday at Platte County High School all the more memorable.
One of three first-year senior contributors, Vaughan held on for a 7-6, 6-4 victory at No. 4 to earn a split of six singles matches and seal the team result.
“I was really happy for him to get that win on senior night,” Platte County coach Zach Keith said.
Bunge also won at No. 5 singles (6-2, 6-4) and teamed with Miller for a victory at No. 3 doubles (8-2). Platte County led 2-1 after doubles with Nichols and junior Hayden Cook also victorious at No. 1. Perhaps most surprisingly for the Pirates, Nichols — easily the most decorated player in program history — did not prevail at No. 1 singles against Savannah, last year’s third-place finisher at state in Class 1.
One of the top players in the state, Savannah No. 1 Cole Horton won in straight sets, as part of the Savages’ sweep at the top three spots. However, Vaughan, Bunge and junior No. 6 Paul Havemeier (6-1, 6-1) were all winners for Platte County.
This marked the fourth straight year with a meeting between the two teams with the series tied 2-2. All four duals have been decided by a score of 5-4.
Platte County 7, William Chrisman 2
On Tuesday, the Pirates finished off a second straight Suburban Conference White Division championship and the third conference crown in a span of four years with a comfortable win in Independence.
Platte County finished the regular season at 12-3 with a 3-0 record in league play. Last week’s scheduled matchup with Raytown ended up canceled but had no effect on the standings.
“The Chrisman match was our third match this season played in very windy conditions,” Keith said, “so it was a somewhat of a sloppy match for the last match of the season, but we collectively played great tennis in doubles and were able to build a nice win early.”
Using a reconfigured lineup of doubles teams for the past few weeks, Platte County swept the way to a 3-0 lead behind wins for Nichols/Vaughan (8-3 at No. 1), junior Jack Bralley/Cook (8-1 at No. 2) and Bunge/Miller (8-4 at No. 3). The Pirates then took 4 of 6 in singles — Nichols (8-0), Bralley (8-1), Vaughan (8-4) and Havemeier (8-1).
Platte County went into the season with only Nichols and Bralley back from last year’s team, which won the Class 2 District 8 team title to reach the state playoffs for the first time.
Having played his third full season plus the last half of his freshman year at No. 1, Nichols goes into Friday’s Class 2 District 8 individual tournament at Platte County High School looking for a fourth straight singles championship. He captured his third during easily the best season in program history when the Pirates sent him plus two doubles teams to state in addition to the playoff berth.
Bralley played on one of those two doubles teams, but the other three qualifiers plus the second singles entrant into the district tournament all graduated.
That left Platte County with plenty of holes in the lineup and uniquely used a combination of five players to replace four. Miller plays doubles only with Havemeier taking the final singles spot. That leaves the Pirates with decisions for Friday but likely will have Nichols and Vaughan in singles with Bralley/Cook and Bunge/Miller in doubles.
However, Havemeier’s season continues with Platte County owning the top seed in the Class 2 District 8 tournament next week. The Pirates open with a bye and play either fourth-seeded KC East or fifth-seeded Raytown in the semifinals.
