Win some, lose some

Warriors pull off some upsets at singles tourney

Pictured earlier this season, Blair Westbrook moved up to the No. 1 spot on Saturday. Del Norte Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

Del Norte’s No. 1 player, Blair Westbrook, won the first round against his opponent from Fortuna 4-6; 6-2; 6-0. It was a battle of the Blairs in the semi-finals, which our Blair lost against Arcata’s No. 1 player and the winner of Saturday’s championship, Blair Winnicott.

As a junior, Westbrook usually plays in the No. 2 spot, but used the tournament to gain experience since his teammate Thomas Thao wasn’t competing.

No Warrior played in the No. 2 bracket.

The fourth-ranked Warrior, Jack Chen, beat Fortuna’s No. 2 guy, 6-2; 6-3, then sailed through the semi-finals, schooling his North Coast Prep opponent, 6-2; 6-1.

Chen made it the finals, getting points on the board against his Arcata opponent, 2-6; 2-6.

The story was similar for No. 5 player Sher Lee, who handily defeated North Coast Prep in the first round, 6-4; 6-1, then outplayed Eureka’s No. 2 player in the semi-final round, 6-4; 6-1,  only to lose the finals to Winnicott, 1-6; 1-6.

Del Norte’s No. 6 player and the only freshman on the team, Alec Westbrook, won the first round against North Coast Prep. 6-3; 7-6 (7-5). He also fell to to Arcata in the semi-finals.

No. 3 player Jesse Lee won the first round against his McKinleyville rival, 6-3; 6-2. He lost in the semi-final round against Eureka’s No. 2 player, 3-6; 4-6.

“Jesse played great. He pretty much demolished McKinleyville in the first round,” said Coach Sara Miller.

Reach Emily Jo Cureton at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it