Mike Pauley presents the championship trophy to the players from North Gwinnett at the close of Saturday’s 60-team Granger Invitational. North Gwinnett won the boys’ title, and Milton took the girls’ title.
Sports Editor
What a difference a year makes.
In 2009, the final day of the Granger Invitational tennis tournament was wiped away because of rain.
There were no such worries for the 19th edition of the tournament this year.
The two-day event was played under clear skies, and it wrapped up Saturday on a pristine spring day without a hint of rain.
The 60-team tournament was played on tennis courts across the area, including the new-look McCluskey Tennis Center, which recently completed an expansion that includes new courts and additional parking.
Matches were also held at Troup High, Callaway High, LaGrange College, Callaway Gardens, Heard County High and Harris County High.
“We just hear a lot of positive things about coming to LaGrange,” LaGrange coach Kenny Moore said. “And it was so nice to have the new courts, and the extra parking was good.”
As for the competition, the teams were divided into two divisions.
In Division I, North Gwinnett beat McIntosh to capture the boys’ title.
The Division II boys’ championship went to Columbus, which got past Harris County.
On the girls’ side, Milton beat Norcross to claim the Division I title, and Roswell topped Columbus for the Division II crown.
LaGrange’s teams competed in Division I, and both squads had nice showings.
The Lady Grangers went 2-1 with wins over Newnan and Heard County and a loss to North Oconee.
The Grangers went 1-2, beating Duluth while losing to Norcross and Carrollton.
Both of the Grangers’ team losses were by a 3-2 score, meaning they were within two victories of going 3-0.
For both teams, Moore said it was beneficial to play such quality competition.
“It was a really good tournament for us. I think we really grew as a team,” he said.
LaGrange also had a boys’ team in Division II, and that squad which featured players not in the varsity lineup went 2-1.
Callaway’s girls’ team went 2-1 in Division II, and the Troup boys’ team also competed in Division II.
The LaGrange and Troup tennis teams will meet today at Troup High beginning at 3:30 p.m.
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