Lemoore tennis in Division III finals. LHS will host Yosemite at 3:30 p.m. on Tiger courts

The best part? The team will be vying for the Central Section championship at home, on their tennis courts. The Tigers will face off against Yosemite High School on Wednesday in the Division III finals. The match begins at 3:30 p.m.

Yosemite defeated the No. 1 see Taft for a spot in the finals.

Lemoore’s talented athletes made it to the finals thanks to an impressive team effort Thursday in the semifinals against Delano. The Tigers put up a strong effort to defeat Delano 7-2, earning themselves a trip to the finals on their home turf.

 Again, it was Denney who scored twice, winning his singles match in easy fashion 6-0, 6-2 and then teaming with Earl Magno to win their doubles match 8-6.

“This is the first time in history that a (Lemoore) tennis team made it this far,” said an elated coach Carla Bow. “For the last two matches, I have asked the boys to really concentrate on singles so that we could come out with the wins.”

She said nearly the entire team participated in the convincing victory. One of the big keys was the Tigers’ singles play where they won five of the six matches, led by Denney’s 6-0, 6-2 whitewash. Earl Magno, Marjaby Bresenio, Mathew Crisci and Jonathan Santiago all convincingly won their matches.

One of the highlights of the afternoon was Marjaby Bresenio’s thriller. After easily winning the first set 6-2, he dropped the second 6-7 but prevailed in the tiebreaker 10-7.

Earl Magno won in a tiebreaker. He lost the opener 3-6 and then rebounded with a 6-2 and got the win with his 10-8 tiebreaker.

“It was a real team effort, and they all did what was asked of them, and more. I could not be prouder of how they have come together as a team and the focus they have,” said Bow. “I am confident in my boys’ abilities to continue to rise to the occasion and continue to pay at the level they are at now.”

Lemoore has indeed turned in some impressive numbers this year, losing only twice in the West Yosemite League to eventual champion Redwood. The Tigers finished at 11-2 in the WYL and were 16-8 overall. The Rangers did not fare as well in Division I play, losing to Bakersfield in the opening round.