BOYS STATE: Sunago, Palo Verde rise back to top

It took Fernando Sunago a couple of seconds to figure out why a mass of humanity was hopping the fence and heading onto his court Friday.

And then two things hit the Palo Verde junior.

That mass of humanity — and the fact that he had just clinched a state boys tennis title for his school.

Sunago’s 6-3 victory over Coronado’s Mitchell Smith in the final set of the match lifted Palo Verde to a 10-8 win over the Cougars (13-1) at Darling Tennis Center and gave the Panthers (15-0) their fourth state title in the past six years.

Sunago hit a modified overhead near the net on set point. When Smith’s return went into the net, the celebration began and quickly engulfed the diminutive Sunago.

Despite his court being surrounded by every player on both teams and most of the fans, Sunago didn’t realize how much was riding on his match.

“I was surprised. I didn’t think it was the last match,” Sunago said. “It’s great to be back on top.”

Sunago, the Panthers’ No. 1 singles player, allowed only four games in winning his three sets Friday.

“Fernando is phenomenal,” Coronado coach Luther Bohanan said. “I was just hoping my No. 1 could stem the tide and get one. He played well, but Fernando can play.”

The Panthers took a 4-2 lead in the first round, getting a sweep of the three doubles matches, and never lost the advantage.

“You’ve got to come out quick. You want to win that first round,” Palo Verde coach Zach Brandt said. “That was big for us. This was what a state championship (match) should be.”

Palo Verde’s Zach Bellon and Dillon Casey won all three of their doubles sets. The Panthers got two more points from the doubles team of Pascal Nilsson and Tanner Berkabile and one point each from Ozzy Abraham in singles and Christian Clark and Jeremy Mann in doubles.

The Panthers won the state title in 2004, lost to Bonanza in ’05 and won titles in ’06 and ’07 before missing out on a trip to state last year when they lost to Bonanza in the Sunset Region final.

“That’s what kept them hungry,” Brandt said. “We had seven new guys (in the lineup) who were hungry, and to win a state title is impressive.”

Smith and Mathew Dees each went 2-1 in singles for the Cougars. Marc Feldman and Michael Seitz were 2-1 in doubles for Coronado, which has been snakebitten at state.

The Cougars lost to Palo Verde in the 2006 final and to Bonanza last year and returned the bulk of last season’s team despite still being young.

“One match here or there and we could have been in a tiebreaker or we could have been up 10-8,” said Bohanan, who is expected to return 13 of his 16 players next season. “I’m so proud of this group. The kids get the experience. They’re still growing up.

“Palo just has a great team. They beat us today.”