NATCHEZ &045; Three years ago as a senior at Trinity Episcopal, Sara Greer nearly led the Lady Saints to an MPSA Class A South State championship in basketball.

Now Rob Greer, a senior this year at Trinity and Sara’s younger brother, can call himself a Class A South State champion in tennis as Greer along with teammate and freshman Jon Davis King in the No. 2 boys doubles.

Greer and King, the No. 1 seed, defeated Jim White and Hunter Hale of Tensas, the No. 2 seed, 6-1, 6-4 in the finals Wednesday afternoon at the Duncan Park Tennis Center.

&uot;We had played Tensas twice (this year),&uot; Greer said. &uot;We won won and lost one. We knew that if we played good we would beat them, but if we played bad we would lose.&uot;

As for the second set, Greer said, &uot;I got frustrated and J.D. kept me in the game.&uot;

After two easy wins on Tuesday, Greer and King had to go to three sets to defeat Zach Shurden and Preston Lloyd of Humpreys Academy in the semifinals Wednesday morning, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.

&uot;That was intense. I expected to play Humphreys in the finals, but we were in the same bracket,&uot; King said.&uot;

As for how it feels to be representing Trinity at State next week, Greer said, &uot;It feels good. It was a tough road to get there.&uot;

While Greer and King will be the only players to represent Trinity at the Class A State Tournament next Wednesday at Parham Bridges Tennis Center in Jackson, Tensas will be represented by eight players &045; all in doubles.

The Chiefs’ top-seeded team of Thomas Crigler and Tyler White defeated unseeded Tomlin Wilson and Joseph Scroggs of Glenbrook in the finals of the No. 2 boys doubles, 6-1, 6-0.

&uot;We lost in the finals last year. It’s good to get them (trophies) back,&uot; Crigler said. &uot;It’s the same school, but a different team.

&uot;That’s some of the best tennis we’ve played all year. We were really on in that match.&uot;

In mixed doubles, senior Lyndsay Hendrix and sophomore Matt Vinson of Tensas defeated seniors Whitney Bradford and Douglas Miller of Huntington in the finals, 7-5, 6-4.

Hendrix said it was a &uot;good feeling&uot; to defeat Bradford and Miller when it counted most.

&uot;This is the third time we played against them this year,&uot; Vinson said. &uot;The first time we beat them.

The second time we lost to them in a tiebreaker. This is pretty priceless. Awesome.&uot;

In No. 2 girls doubles, Tensas’ team of Samantha Kelly and Tabitha Howard gave Briarfield’s duo of sophomore Amy Amacker and senior Madelyn Schneider, the No. 1 seed, all they could handle in the finals before falling 6-1, 7-6 (4).

&uot;They played a lot better than we played them the first time,&uot; Amacker said. &uot;We played OK in the first set. Tensas picked it up in the second set.&uot;

River Oaks made a clean sweep of the team titles. The girls team finished with 12 1/2 points, while Briarfield was second with 11 points. The boys finished with 10 1/2 points, with Tensas and Humphreys tied for second with nine points.

&uot;They played pretty well,&uot; River Oaks tennis coach Cheryl Metzger said. &uot;They all won their first-round matches. Several of my players are junior tournament players. I’m just really proud of them for staying focused.&uot;

Perhaps the biggest shocker of the entire tournament was pulled off by seventh-grader Anna Raymond and sixth-grader Miriam Henry of River Oaks, who, as the No. 3 seed in No. 2 girls doubles mustered a couple big upsets to become South State champions.

They stunned defending champions and the No. 1 seeded team of Mary Ann Lensing and Mary Hopkins of River Oaks &045; the same team they lost to in the semifinals last year &045; in a three-set thriller, 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-3.

Then they knocked off No. 2 seed Hallie Swayze Crooke and Lara Solomon of Humphreys in the finals, 6-0, 6-4.

&uot;We were really shocked,&uot; Raymond said. &uot;We’re really young. We’ve never played them (Crooke and Solomon) before, so we didn’t know what to expect. They played good.&uot;

Sophomore Tyler Metzger of River Oaks, the No. 1 seed in No. 1 boys singles for the second straight year, rolled to his second straight South State title and third overall by defeating this year’s No. 2 seed Pete Lensing of Briarfield, 6-1, 6-2.

Metzger said the path to winning South State this year was somewhat easier than it was last year.

Metzger will be looking to win his third straight Class A State championship next week &045; and he’s still got two more years.

Also repeating was Ainsley Moore of River Oaks, as the No. 1 seed in No. 1 girls singles defeated No. 2 Callie Lensing of Briarfield in the finals, 6-1, 6-0.

Ainsley not only took the same path to winning South State as she did last year.

&uot;The hot weather kind of messed them up. They played good,&uot; Ainsley said. &uot;I’ve been playing since I was 9, so I have more experience.&uot;

This was Ainsley’s fourth South State title. &uot;It’s an honor. It just feels good to win,&uot; she said.

Humpreys had two players pull off huge upsets on their way to winning South State titles.

First, in No. 2 girls singles, sophomore and No. 3 seed Lauren Grisham defeated No. 2 seed Lori Lensing of Briarfield in the semifinals, 6-3, 6-3 and then pulled off a shocker by upsetting No. 1 seed and defending champion Megan Meador of River Oaks in the finals, 6-3, 6-1.

&uot;It feels great. I was kind of shocked by it myself,&uot; Grisham said. &uot;(Meador) was pretty tough. We were 3-all every game. I was pumped and willing to win. I was ready to play. It feels awesome to be South State champion in No. 2 singles.&uot;

Then, senior and unseeded player Adam Tuck knocked off No. 3 seed Hall Schneider of Briarfield in a quarterfinal match Tuesday, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (2), then defeated No. 1 seed Kellis Triplett of Central Delta in the semifinals, 6-4, 6-2 and completed the trifecta of upsets by defeating No. 2 seed Kenney Shaw of River Oaks in the finals, 6-2, 6-2.