LEWISTON – Fists clenched – one of them around his well-worn orange and black tennis racket – Ben McDonough let out a scream as he watch Josh Dennison’s passing shot sail wide and long.

Two hours and 50 minutes after it began, after 14 deuces in the final three games alone, and after countless grunts, banged rackets, self-motivating yells and cheers from the gathered crowd, McDonough let out one final yell as he pulled out a 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 victory over Dennison, preserving his team’s perfect season record – its sixth straight – in a thrilling 3-2 match win over Mt. Ararat.

“The whole team was watching,” McDonough said. “I’m a senior. I didn’t want to be the one to let the team down. I didn’t want to be the reason this streak came to an end.”

The Blue Devils’ 12th win of the season – and third by a slim, 3-2 margin – caps the team’s sixth consecutive blemish-free campaign, and runs the squad’s record to 103-1 during coach Ron Chicoine’s tenure.

“It’s hard to get a singles win against them,” Chicoine said. “We managed to win them so far, but to get even one singles win is a tough thing.”

Mt. Ararat has been the team giving Lewiston the most problems in each of the last four seasons. The Eagles, led by defending state singles champion Mike Hill, have always played the Devils tight.

“The numbers were different this time, it was 4-1 last time, but it was such a tight match,” Mt. Ararat coach Don Foley said. “We know we’re going to get (a point) at No. 1, it’s a matter of coming up with the other two somehow.”

Things started well for Mt. Ararat on Tuesday. After 10 minutes, the Eagles (10-2) led each of the four first sets on the court, including 3-0 in each of the doubles matches.

Chicoine paced back and forth, grimacing with each lost point.

The newly-formed No. 1 doubles tandem of Alex Chicoine and Keagan Cote rallied to win 11 consecutive games after falling into a 3-0 hole, and won their match against Josh Bryant and Christian Swanholm 6-3, 6-1.

“Alex and I had a talk,” Cote said. “We knew we needed to pick it up at that point. Against Brunswick we did the same thing and lost. This time, we figured it out and won 11 in a row.”

Eric Hall and Eric Morin of Lewiston also battled back at No. 2 doubles, earning a 6-4, 6-2 decision over Josh Kittle and Adam Levesque.

But the fun was just beginning on the singles courts.

McDonough won the first set 7-5 after trailing 3-5, and took a 4-3 lead in the second. Next door, Scott Gagne fell in the first set to Nate Rohman, 6-4, but rallied to win the second, 7-6 (7-4 in the tiebreaker).

Meanwhile, McDonough dropped three games and he, too split sets.

After a back-and-forth match, Gagne fell on the final point of the ninth game of the third set, injuring his right foot. The point gave Rohman a 5-4 edge. After receiving medical attention, Gagne, in obvious pain, gutted out the final game, but fell in the third set, 6-4.

Attention shifted to Court 1. By this point, No. 1 singles had begun and finished as Hill dispatched Mike Butler 6-0, 6-1. With the teams and gathered parents and fans hanging onto the fence beside the court, McDonough and Dennison slugged it out, one long rally after another.

“Experience, that’s what it came down to,” McDonough said. “I had to be a leader out there.”

McDonough again fell behind late, 3-4. But this time, he outlasted Dennison, winning the 10th game of the third set on the fifth deuce, on the fourth match point.

“Just keeping mentally in the game, you can’t go off track, even for one second, in a match like that,” McDonough said.

Not to be outdone, the Lewiston girls capped their own perfect season with a 5-0 victory over the Eagles. Chantalle Lavertu, Emilie Cloutier and Abby Blaisdell lost two total games in their straight-set singles wins, and the doubles teams of Jessica Bowen and Becca Lessard and Stephanie Gagne and Michelle Nadeau closed out their opponents by dropping just five.

And as if the Lewiston tennis program hadn’t earned enough accolades in recent years, the girls did something coach Anita Murphy believes is a program first: Every player completed their season undefeated, and the Devils won every team match 5-0.

“It’s honestly a big surprise to me,” Murphy said. “I had high expectations for our team, but for them to go undefeated, every single match, it’s just awesome. It’s amazing.”

The teams will each play in the KVAC title game this week, and will learn their playoff opponents when the MPA releases the final Heal Points later this week.