Boys tennis: Edward Little edges Lewiston

LEWISTON — Jonah Chen defeated Ben Cloutier in the No. 1 singles showdown to give Edward Little a 3-2 boys tennis win over Lewiston on Thursday.

Chen won the first set 6-0, but Cloutier made him work for his 6-4 win in the second set.

“He played well,” Chen said. “I’ve played him before, but not in a real match.”

The Red Eddies won all three singles matches, while the Blue Devils earned both doubles points.

“I knew we were coming in pretty evenly matched with Lewiston,” Edward Little coach Greg Vincent said. “I thought they would have the advantage at doubles and I thought we had a slight advantage in singles, and I think that was the difference …

“Coming in, I knew it would be close, and they’ve got some really good players, but, I think at the end of the day, the singles drove that win home for us.”

Red Eddies freshman Calvin Vincent defeated Gavin Bavis in the No. 2 singles match 6-2, 6-2.

“I think I played pretty well. Got the job done, you know,” Vincent said.

The match was delayed early by an unexpected light rain. Vincent led Bavis 5-0 at that point, but when play resumed, Bavis won the next two points.

“So I never really experienced that,” Vincent said, “and so it’s tough — your mind’s in a zone, and then, like, it goes out; it’s tough to go back into it.”

Edward Little’s Luke Pawlina fought through pain from a lingering injury to down Everett Mailhot 6-3, 6-1.

“I was trying to go short then long, and short then long, and side to side, try to move him around a little bit so he can’t move me around,” Pawlina said. “I just found it worked most of the time.”

The Blue Devils’ No. 1 doubles team, Dru Angelides and Austin Vincent, topped Brady Kilby and Richie Romano 6-2, 6-2.

Evan Greaton and Caleb Paris won second doubles for Lewiston 6-0, 6-0 over Gavin Pelletier and Kadan Haider-Roussel.

“Our doubles are playing very strong,” Lewiston coach Tom Leblond said. “Especially our first doubles seem to really be getting in sync and really progressing after each match.

“It’s just singles, we’ve got to be a little bit better in the tight spots — you know, when we’re deuce games, when we’re serving for a set, just got to start winning big points that can get that momentum.”