BENTONVILLE -- The 7A-West Conference boys' tennis championship hung in the balance late Wednesday afternoon at Memorial Park.
Rogers High made sure a strong finish in both in singles and doubles finals left no doubt.
The Mounties already had locked up at least a share of the conference title when Jack Vaughn advanced to the singles finals, and the team of Payne Henry and Moss Matthews made it to the finals in doubles.
At least one finals victory would secure the Mounties an outright conference championship. But when both the doubles team, and Vaughn netted late rally wins, Rogers stormed its way to a nine-point team victory.
"It was close until the end," Rogers coach Mike Harper said. "The doubles team had to come back and Jack had to come from behind in his match.
"It's a long time coming, an outright championship. We tied with Fayetteville last year and we were proud of that. But to win it outright is special."
Rogers finished with 17 total points -- grabbing six from the two finals victories -- to easily outdistance runner-up Fayetteville, who tallied eight. Bentonville High and Bentonville West tied for third with four points each.
Henry, a sophomore, and Matthews, a senior, clinched the conference title for Rogers with their 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 win against top-seeded Marquese Hayes and Jackson Runnels of Fayetteville. The Rogers duo trailed 3-1 in the deciding set before storming back.
"I think our bracket was tougher getting to the finals and it helped us," Henry said. "We just took it point-by-point."
Henry and Matthews, who entered as the No. 3 seed, knew going into their match a win would mean an outright championship for the Mounties.
"It was nerve-wracking," Matthews said. "We knew what was at stake. Our intensity and our focus were a big help."
Vaughn, the No. 4 seed, knocked off No. 1 seeded Hans Corbell from Fayetteville in the semifinals, 6-4, 6-4, to set up his finals match in singles play against Hayden Shoemake of Bentonville West.
Vaughn dropped the first set and trailed early in the third set, before rallying for a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 win.
"Every single point I was telling myself to stay patient," Vaughn said. "This gives me a lot of confidence and I'm really excited for state."
Sports on 10/06/2016