SUNRISE BOYS: Liberty’s Ihmels, Hoyle capture doubles final

The Liberty duo had plenty of fun walking around, watching other matches and eating licorice.

When it came time to play, it was difficult to find a team more focused than the Patriot tandem.

Ihmels and Hoyle rebounded from their only lost set of the tournament to post a 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 win over Coronado’s Ryland McDermott and Sam Grant in the Sunrise boys doubles final Monday.

“We really stayed focused throughout the tournament,” Hoyle said. “We didn’t overlook any matches. We really just tried to play match to match and not get ahead of ourselves.”

The strategy worked perfectly. The team lost only nine games in its first three matches before getting a tough test from the Coronado duo.

Ihmels and Hoyle played doubles together only once during the regular season, but know each other well from their out-of-school program.

“We have good chemistry,” Hoyle said. “We just kind of found it when we needed to. We had fun.”

Both finalists advance to the state tournament, which begins Friday in Reno.

“This gives us a lot of confidence,” Hoyle said. “We haven’t played any of the teams in the other half of the draw yet, but by winning this match, we should be in a pretty good position to move forward.”

Coronado’s Jack Vance and Jamie Vance took third and will meet Palo Verde’s Bailey Swainston and Zack Surmacz in a play-in match for the final state bid at 8 a.m. today.

It was the second straight year a Liberty team won the Sunrise boys doubles title. Gil Lim and Blayze O’Keefe took the crown last year.

In singles, Rancho’s Rohan Gupte made it a true repeat.

Last year’s region champion didn’t disappoint on Monday, rolling to a 6-3, 6-4 win over Coronado’s Cassell King.

Gupte, who drew an opening-round bye in the tournament, never came close to facing a set point against him. He lost only 12 total games in four matches.

“So far, so good,” he said. “I’ve just tried to stay focused on each match.”

Gupte downed Coronado’s top two singles players Monday. He was 6-3, 6-1 winner over Sam Cohen in the semifinals.

“It gives me a lot of confidence because I’ve beaten some great players,” said Gupte, who placed fourth at state as a sophomore last year. “It gives me a lot of momentum going into state.”

Gupte and King both punched their state ticket by advancing to the finals.

Cohen finished third and will meet Palo Verde’s Rhett Bossung in a play-in match at 8 a.m. today.