Teale, Staples repeat as district champions

JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Maryville seniors Jaxson Staples and Kason Teale celebrate against Savannah in the district championship on Friday in St. Joseph.

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Kason Teale and Jaxson Staples have been there and done it before at the district tournament. The senior doubles pairing for the Spoofhounds won the district tournament last season before making Maryville history with an all-time best sixth-place finish at state.

This season has been different from last season though as both Teale and Staples have battled injuries this year. Teale returned to the lineup just in time for the district tournament.

But when Teale and Staples are on the court together, it seems like they just find a way to get the job done. Friday’s tournament was not always smooth, but the duo ended the day with a second-straight district title.

“Kelly Quinlin has helped me a lot with recovery — same with our athletic trainer Corby (Roush) at school,” Teale said. “So they have helped me get back, then just resting it for the past two weeks and being able to come out here today.”

Teale and Staples appeared to almost be knocking off the rust as the tournament went on with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Savannah’s No. 2 team in the quarterfinals before a 6-2, 6-3 win over Bishop LeBlond’s top team in the semifinal.

That set the table for a matchup with Savannah’s No. 1 team in the finals. Having made the final, both teams had already guaranteed their spot in sectionals, but seeding and bragging rights were on the line.

The Spoofhound pair were sharp early with a 6-3 first set victory and appeared to be headed for a similar result in the second set with a 5-2 lead, but Savannah rattled off four-straight games to seize control.

“We lost focus at 5-2 because it was so close, and we didn’t play as well as we had been,” Teale said. “We kinda got a reality check and they came back and beat us in the second set. We knew that we had to lock back in for the last tiebreaker.”

Teale and Staples have dealt with adversity before though as things snowballed, they knew they were capable of turning the tide back in their favor.

“We know how well we can play after going to state last year and we know that we can play better than we were,” Teale said.

The match went to a first-to-10 tiebreaker, and Teale and Staples reasserted their dominance in the match. Teale opened the tiebreaker with an ace and it snowballed in the Spoofhounds favor from there with a 10-1 win for the title.

“Gaining back that momentum by getting a quick point and two more right after that off of their serves was really good to establish dominance in that last set,” Teale said.

The Hounds advance to sectionals on Friday at 4 p.m. in St. Joseph with a win putting them back into the state tournament.

“It has been kinda rough, but Kason got rested up, and I’m happy to be back with him because he hustles everywhere and gets to everything so it makes my job easier,” Staples said.

“We’ve just got to stay focused and play our game, because when we play our game, we play really well.”

Maryville had two other close calls to advancing but ended up with the third-place finishers in both the doubles and singles brackets.

Will Sheil and Brody Stagner were the other doubles team for Maryville and picked up a 6-2, 6-1 win over Lafayette in the quarterfinals, but fell to Savannah’s top team in the semifinals 6-2, 6-1.

“I knew that they could do well playing together today,” Maryville coach Nicole McGinness said.

They responded by winning the third-place match over Bishop LeBlond’s top team, 8-6.

In singles, junior George Groumoutis opened with a 6-1, 6-1 win over a Lafayette opponent. In the semifinals, he dropped a heartbreaker to Benton’s Ridge Stagner 1-6, 7-6 (9-7) and 8-10 in the tiebreaker.

“I was so impressed with George and his play,” McGinness said. “He went down 1-6 the first set, battled back and won the second set and was trying so hard in the tiebreaker, but just fell a little short, but I was really impressed with his play and really proud of him.”

Groumoutis also responded with a good win in the third-place match with an 8-2 win over a LeBlond opponent.

Freshman Kyler Skidmore also competed in singles. He was outstanding all year for the Hounds in the middle and lower portion of their lineup with a 21-0 regular season record. He rolled in the opener 6-0, 6-0 against a Benton opponent.

He then drew Savannah No. 1 Cole Horton, the reigning state runner-up. Horton has made a habit of ending a lot of people’s seasons and picked up a 6-0, 6-0 win. Despite the loss, McGinness thought it was a good experience for Skidmore.

“I love watching him play,” McGinness said. “He was 22-0 before he ran into Cole. … He is just a solid player.”

While Teale and Staples have the sectionals on Friday, the entire team has team districts this week. Second-seeded Maryville hosts LeBlond on Tuesday and if both heavy favorites advance, Maryville and Savannah will play for the district title on Wednesday in Savannah.