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North boy netters trip South, 6-3 By RANDY HAMMERICKSEN North Medford High's boys tennis team, playing without its top player, fought off an upset bid by rival South Medford Thursday to defeat the Panthers, 6-3, in a dual match. North Medford rallied in the last three matches to seal its second win over South this season. The Black Tornado played without senior Jonathan Endrikat, who was held out of the match by North coach Ray Odor. "It was our last match of the regular season, and I wanted all our kids to get to play," said Odor. "We had 14 players and 13 spots. I decided to give Jon the day off because he's getting ready for the district and state tournaments." When South Medford coach Joel Heller kept his top singles player (Zach Matthews) out of his lineup, Odor opted not to play Endrikat. "Jonathan wanted to play Zach, but when Zach wasn't in their lineup, we went with the other kids," said Odor. With North Medford struggling to hold off the Panthers, who showed strength in doubles, Odor admitted he had some concerns about not having Endrikat. But when North's No. 1 singles player for the day, Clint Russell, rallied to top Riley Farrell, 5-7, 7-5, 6-3, and Brock Jonasson of the Black Tornado downed Eli Matthews 6-0, 6-0 in No. 2 singles, North was back in command. Eli and Zach Matthews gave South Medford a 6-0, 7-6 win over Dru Philips and Richard Louie of North. Behind Philips' aggressive play and well-placed shots, the North team rallied to take a 6-5 lead in the second set before the Matthews brothers battled back to close out the match. "We finally got focused and started moving our feet," said Philips. "We had a chance to come back and win, but we didn't quite do it. We need to get off to better starts and hang in there when things go wrong." Jonasson, whose brother, Forbes, combined with Jason Rapp to win the state doubles title for North in 1995, is tracking a state championship of his own with partner Jeremy Leever of North. But with Endrikat out of the match, Jonasson was asked to play singles and rolled to the win over Eli Matthews. Leever defeated South's Richard Templeton in singles, 6-2, 6-3, and Robby Cartelyou of the Black Tornado stopped Peter White-Hoppe, 6-3, 6-1. David Heyerman of North stopped Chris Devita in the final singles match. Ian Foster and Will Adrian of South and the team of Farrell and Dane Gerrard posted wins for South in doubles. "I'm happy with our doubles teams," said Heller. "I'm also very excited about what the Matthews brothers have a chance to do at district in doubles. "We finished our season with a record of 8-2, and that's important to me," said Odor. "I wanted to win this match, but I also wanted to see some kids get a chance to play one more match. It worked out real well." SINGLES -- Clint Russell, NM, d. Riley Farrell, 5-7, 7-5, 6-3; Brock Jonasson, NM, d. Eli Matthews, 6-0, 6-0; Jeremy Leever, NM, d. Richard Templeton, 6-2, 6-3; Robby Cortelyou, NM, d. Peter White-Hoppe 6-3, 6-1; David Heyerman, NM, d. Chris Devita 6-4, 6-0. DOUBLES -- Eli Matthews-Zach Matthews, SM, d. Dru Philips-Richard Louie 6-0, 7-6; David Mostue-Andrew Theen, NM, d. Richard Templeton-Pete White-Hoppe 4-6, 6-4, 6-4; Ian Foster-Will Adrian, SM, d. Tyler Anno-Pete Oliver 6-7, 7-6 (10-6); Riley Farrell-Dane Gerrard, SM, d. Colin Olson-Justin Devine. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA