NATCHEZ — In perhaps the greatest turnaround from one year to the next in the history of the MPSA Class A South State Tennis Tournament, Laurel Christian School’s boys tennis team took the team trophy with a total of 13 points.

Last year, while River Oaks was running away with the boys’ team title, Laurel Christian finished in a dismal tie for ninth place with one point.

Glenbrook finished second with 10 points and Tensas Academy finished third with six points.

In Mixed Doubles, top-seeded Katherine Coco and Alec Thornton of Tensas Academy defeated unseeded Miriam Henry and William Curry of River Oaks in the finals, 6-3, 6-1.

“It feels great,” Thornton said. “I enjoyed it because I have someone to rely on. I don’t have to do it by myself. I’m glad that we won.”

Last year, Thornton finished runner-up in No. 1 Boys Singles at South State, so making the transition to mixed doubles turned out to be a good one — and a winning one.

“I’ve worked hard for it. We both played on top of our game,” Thornton said.

“They gave us a good match, especially at the beginning,” Coco said. “They’re a good team.”

In No. 1 Girls Doubles, top-seeded Mollye Ashmore and Julie Moak had to settle for second place for the second straight year as they were upset by unseeded Kelsie Wilson and Hannah Scroggs of Glenbrook, 6-4, 6-2.

“It was extremely hard-fought,” Wilson said. “We played point by point and gave it all we had. I’m extremely surprised.

“I didn’t think we’d make it past the first day,” Scroggs said. “It’s a dream come true.”

In No. 1 Boys Singles, top-seeded Lambert lost in the finals to second-seeded Matthew Moorehead of Glenbrook in a hard-fought two sets, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6).

“I was down 3-0 in the set. I started playing well and tied it 3-3,” Moorehead said. “He won one more game to make it 3-4 and I finished it out. The tiebreaker, I was up 1-0 and his hard serve got me down 2-1. I got it up to 4-4.”

Moorehead said he started getting worried and nervous after being down 5-4. But he won four of the final five games to win the tiebreaker, the second set and a South State title.

“It feels good,” Moorehead said. “My sixth-grade year, I made it here in mixed doubles and we got runner-up. Last year I had my appendix taken out, so I wasn’t able to make it.”

In No. 1 Boys Doubles, third-seeded Andrew and Thomas Morgan got past unseeded Levi Madden and Hodson Brown in the finals, 6-4, 6-3.

In the finals in No. 2 Boys Doubles, Brandon Keipp and Tyler Wansley defeated K. White and D. Neal in a battle of unseeded teams, 6-1, 6-4.

“It was pretty hard. They’re a good team. It was a difficult match. It feels pretty good,” Wansley said. “Once we made it past our first match, we were pretty sure we would make it to the finals.”

In No. 2 Boys Singles, top-seeded Vincent Moore of River Oaks defeated unseeded Bryce Chandler of Glenbrook in the finals, 6-1, 6-3.

“It feels pretty good. A lot of hard work at practice,” Vincent Moore said. “It was a real close match. Each game was 3-3 or 4-3. It was a lot closer than (the outcome) looked.”

To no one’s surprise, River Oaks’ girls team won the team title with 11 1/2 points, but the big surprise was that Laurel Christian finished a close second with 10 points, one year after finishing sixth with four points. Glenbrook finished third with eight points, a big improvement considering the Lady Apaches finished seventh a year ago with two and a half points.

For the sixth straight year, River Oaks senior Ainsley Moore won an individual South State title. In the finals in No. 1 Girls Singles, top-seeded Moore defeated second-seeded Andrea Boyles of Laurel Christian, 6-1, 6-1.

“It feels good. This is my last year. It feels sad,” Ainsley Moore said. “It was a good match. She beat me last year at State. It was a good match, though.”

In No. 2 Girls Singles, second-seeded Martha Morgan of Laurel Christian stunned top-seeded top-seeded Morgan Sarter of River Oaks, 7-5, 7-5.

“I’ve been wanting this since we’ve been coming to Natchez,” Morgan said. “It was really long and it was hot and tiring. We had really long volleys. The girl I played was really good.”

In No. 2 Girls Doubles, top-seeded Charlotte Metzger and Amy Shaw of River Oaks rallied after losing the first set to edge past unseeded Anna Lindstrom and Mary Grace Fisher, 1-6, 6-1, 7-5.

“It was tiring. We were down, but we kept coming back,” Metzger said. “We just had to warm up and get it together. We just had to play hard and keep it together. I’ve never gotten this far. We won and that’s exciting. This is our first year together.”

Those players and teams who advanced to the finals will participate in the MPSA Class A State Tournament next Wednesday at Ridgeland Tennis Center in Jackson.