Bengals seize control

In the weeks leading up to the 5A state tennis tournament, a handful of local coaches were hesitant to jump on the Brighton bandwagon, citing concerns about the Bengals' depth as a possible weakness.

On the first day of the tournament, however, Brighton silenced its critics in a big way, effectively taking control of the tournament by becoming the only team to advance all five of its players to the second day of play.

"We're excited that all of our players made it through the first round," said Brighton coach Natalie Aposhian. "But we aren't there yet. Anything can happen at a tournament like this."

At this point, Aposhian's caution is warranted. In spite of the Bengals' strong play, Bingham, Lone Peak and the upstart Davis High Darts are still well-within striking distance. Brighton leads all teams with 10 points, but the aforementioned teams are right on their heels with eight points apiece.

Spencer Smith and Corbin Benson led the Bengals with lights-out performances at first and second singles, respectively. Their dominance was undeniable; neither player lost so much as a single game en route to clinching a berth in today's semifinals.

The most dramatic match of the day, however, saw Brighton's Matt Larsen take on Chris Hamilton of Lone Peak in the second round of third singles play. With major points on the line, Larsen battled through fatigue and a painful cramp to edge Hamilton in a three-set barn-burner, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

"That was the match that we had to win today," said Aposhian. "I just told him that he had to play to win, not play to avoid losing."

Although Lone Peak came up short in that match, the Knights are still very much in the running for the title.