WATERVILLE – For all of the scrambling shots, lobs, winners, aces and volleys played between the Windham and Lewiston boys’ tennis teams Saturday, it was one tantalizing net-court shot that defined the entire match.

Facing a love-40 hole and three match points down 4-5 in the third set, Lewiston sophomore Scott Gagne grunted as he forced a two-handed backhand return cross-court.

The ball hit the tape, and teetered atop the net.

“My heart stopped,” Gagne said, tears still welling in his eyes. “I thought it stayed up there for five years.”

What felt like five years was less than five-tenths of a second.

The ball fell – in.

“Everything just stopped right there,” Gagne said, “and then we couldn’t lose a point.”

Faced with a seemingly-impossible 2-5 deficit in the third set, Gagne and partner Alex Chicoine staved off four match points – including three in that one game alone – and won five consecutive games to pull out an improbable 6-4, 6-7 (3), 7-5 win at first singles. Moments later, they watched as Keagan Cote and Eric Morin capped the raucous comeback with a third-set win of their own at No. 2 doubles to lift the Blue Devils to a 3-2 match win over Windham, earning the school’s seventh consecutive Class A boys state tennis championship at Colby College.

“It was amazing,” Lewiston boys’ coach Ron Chicoine. “The points, none of the points were routine. They were digging them out, running behind you, flicking. It was just so exciting.”

Early action – delayed at one point by several minutes of rain – favored the Eagles. Windham carved out wins at No. 3 singles (Dan McGovern upended Eric Hall 6-1, 6-4) and at No. 1 singles (Nate Johnson winning 7-5, 6-4 over Michael Butler), while the Devils earned a much-needed point from senior Ben McDonough, who ousted Dan Crocker 6-1, 6-4.

“The seniors have been key for us down the stretch,” Ron Chicoine said. “Crocker’s a good player, and he changed his style up a bit in the second set, but Ben found his adjustment, too.”

The early results forced the Devils’ hand – they needed to win both doubles points.

Both of the teams split sets, despite the Lewiston No. 1 squad earning (and squandering) six match points in the second set.

“You never want to be the guy, or the doubles pair, letting down the team,” Gagne said. “Looking over, we’re losing love-40 in the 4-5 game, and (the second doubles team) is up 4-1 in the third set, you know there’s a very good chance they’ll pull out their match, which means we’d end up being the clinching match. You just say, point by point, you can’t lose your composure.”

Windham’s top doubles tandem of Nick Rallis and Kurt Stultz started to crack, launching a combined seven double faults into the net over the next two service games, allowing Lewiston back into the match.

On the Devils’ third match point of the third set – and ninth overall – the ball fell in between the Windham pair. Gagne flung his hat into the air and members of the team rushed onto the court.

“It was an absolute roller coaster ride,” Windham coach Wayne Martin said. “We fought off (eight) match points in doubles, and they did the same four times. It was great tennis, two heavyweights going at it.”

Next door, the actual clinching match wasn’t quite finished.

“When we saw them finish up, I just looked at Eric and said, ‘We need to stay calm, not get too excited and finish this thing off,'” Cote said. “The guy serving for Windham, he hadn’t double-faulted all match, and as people were cheering, he did twice.”

The ball sailed high and Cote put away the match with an emphatic overhead smash.

Lewiston is now 106-1 under Ron Chicoine since he took over the program from his father, Rene, in 2003, including an unblemished 28-0 in the playoffs.

And there may be a rematch brewing. The Eagles lose just one player – senior exchange student Fernando Leon-Prado at No. 2 doubles – while the Devils graduate Butler and McDonough.