Herons capture first tennis championship
CANEY BAY — Brantley County finally kicked through the championship door surviving against thirdseed Bleckley County to claim its first-ever state championship trophy Saturday winning 3-0.
“The day was stressful,” said head coach Patrick Stieve. “There were a lot of nerves coming from our players with the pressure of being the No. 1 seed, hosting every round of the state tournament and now the state championship.
“We knew there was a target on our backs. From the moment each team arrived, there was a different feeling.”
The Herons went up 2-0 with a sweep of the doubles action. All three tightly contested singles matches went to a deciding third set.
“As our doubles rolled in straight sets, I knew we needed just one win at singles,” Stieve said. “All three had split sets. Several of the players were showing signs of fatigue and potential cramping situations.
“Much of the match there was a lot of crowd noise coming from both teams, it was evident this was a big moment for all of us and we all wanted our players to come out on top.”
The clinching third point came when No. 1 Rohan Davis executed a drop shot for a 6-4 victory ending a grueling near 2-hour, 45-minute match for the win. Both the No. 2 and No. 3 matches were halted.
“Rohan told me at the beginning of the third set he had this and he knew what he needed to do to win it,” said Stieve. “This is something the team talks about — trust your teammates, get off the court with a win or fight until your teammates get enough wins for us to celebrate!”
The match and victory were the first-ever Georgia High School Association finals hosted and won on the Caney Bay campus.
BCHS had been 1-9 against private school powers in semifinal appearances dating back to its first trip in 2008. Brantley County ended an 0-for-7 run in 2022 knocking off Greater Atlanta Christian 3-0 before dropping a 3-0 decision to Westminster in the Class AAA finals.
Westminster denied the Herons three other times (2012, 2016, 2018) in the semifinals en route to championships. BCHS lost to Wesleyan in 2008, Blessed Trinity in 2011 and St. Pius X in 2013.
Brantley County was ousted the last two years in the semifinals by private school eventual Class AA champions Mt. Paran (2023) and Landmark Christian (2024).
The top-seed Herons advanced through the Class A Division I bracket posting four consecutive 30 victories including in the Wednesday, May 14 semifinals against visiting fifth-seed Model from Rome.
BCHS ousted 32nd-seed Coosa, 17th-seed Commerce and eighthseed Rabun County in the first three rounds.
The Blue Devils reached the semifinals knocking off 20th-seed Pepperell 4-0 in the ‘Elite 8’. Model won its first two matches 5-0 (28tth-seed Putnam County) and 4-0 (12th-seed Bremen).
Bleckley County, which won its only state title in 2017 in the Class AA division, also won 3-0 in all four rounds against 30th-seed Central-Macon, 14th-seed Region 1 member Bacon County, sixth-seed Region 1 member Jeff Davis and seventhseed ACE Charter.
For Brantley County’s seniors, winning the state title culminated a seven-year run of winning three middle school conference titles and four region titles.
Championship No. 1 Herons.........................3 No. 3 Bleckley County...........0
Brantley County clawed its way to the championship with the three set victory by Davis.
The No. 1 doubles team of Tucker O’Quinn and Jayce Chapman were first off the court winning 6-0, 6-0 over Jack Trip and Reagan Scott. The No. 2 team of Evan Payne and Jett Florey followed posting a 6-3, 62 decision over John Teston and Bo Yearty.
Davis, No. 2 Patrick O’Quinn and No. 3 Owen Spradley began their quest for the last victory. Davis was next beating Wycliff Herrington 62, 3-6, 6-4.
O’Quinn was tied at a set apiece (3-6, 6-4) and trailing 6-5 against Deacon Farrell when the match ended. Spradley was also tied at 1-all (6-3, 3-6) and leading 4-3 against Drew Floyd when play ended.
Semifinals No. 1 Herons.........................3 No. 5 Model ..........................0
Wins at No. 1 singles and doubles and at No. 3 singles propelled the Herons to the finals against Model.
Davis posted a 6-1, 6-1 decision knocking off Patrick Sands. Spradley captured a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Harrsion Silver. Patrick O’Quinn was within one game of a two-set win leading 6-2, 5-2 at No. 2 over Elijah Ely.
Tucker O’Quinn and Chapman turned back Orgil Adams and Landry Lawing 6-1, 6-0. The No. 2 duo of Evan Payne and Jeff Florey were in a deciding third set tied at 2apiece with Braiden Holder and Marlon Kinnebrew after splitting the first two sets 4-6, 6-0.
