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WILKES-BARRE – Just a few days after facing Wyoming Seminary’s Eamon Gibbons and winning, Scranton Prep’s Tarquin McGurrin was optimistic heading into Friday’s District 2 Class 2A boys tennis final.
McGurrin overmatched Gibbons once again in the matchup, winning in straight sets 6-0, 6-2 to claim his first District 2 Class 2A singles title. McGurrin said there was a definite advantage seeing Gibbons for the second time in four days.
“I came in with a new gameplan since Tuesday, and that seemed to work well for me,” McGurrin said. “It was nice to have the experience of playing him on Tuesday so I could get a feel for what he’s like.”
Gibbons had a slight advantage entering the contest, having participated in the singles tournament in the two previous years. The senior had improved every year, reaching the quarterfinals in 2015 and the semis in 2016. McGurrin, also a senior, hadn’t played in the singles tourney before, but had plenty of experience playing in the doubles finals the last two years.
So getting to the finals was another achievement for the Blue Knights standout, who will attend Hamilton College and play tennis there starting in the fall. A gold medal would have been great, but a silver is still an accomplishment.
“It’s a lot of fun to be here. Obviously I wish the result could have been different, but it was a good run,” Gibbons said. “I got a bronze last year, so it’s better than last year.”
McGurrin had too much for Gibbons in their second meeting this week. Earlier in the week, McGurrin, the No. 1 seed for the individual event, topped Gibbons in straight sets during the District 2 team tournament — won by Sem — when the Prep standout only dropped three total games.
“I’m sure he was feeling pretty good because the first match went his way and I knew he’d have a lot of confidence coming into this one,” Gibbons added. “He kept me on my heels and that made it pretty tough.
“I think if I had gone and just attacked more, I probably could have put more pressure on him and could have made him crack.”
Gibbons advanced to the finals with a victory in straight sets over Jack Habeeb from Scranton Prep, 6-2, 6-3. McGurrin knocked out Gibbons’ teammate – and possible doubles partner for next week’s tournament – Andrew Schukraft in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1.
While McGurrin will now rest for nearly two weeks until the PIAA Championships begin on May 26, Gibbons and his Blue Knights teammates will see plenty of action.
On Tuesday, the Blue Knights will take part in the first round of the PIAA Team Championships when they face Lancaster Mennonite at 2 p.m. at the Kingston Indoor Tennis Club.
“Just keep doing what we’ve been doing,” Gibbons said about his team’s matchup next week. “We’ve been playing pretty well and I think we have a good chance to go pretty far so I’m looking forward to it.”
Following that, Gibbons will play in the District 2 Class 2A Doubles Tournament on Wednesday and Thursday at Kirby Park. In the last three years, he and Schukraft were partners in the event, reaching the semifinals all three times.
“I think Andrew and I will partner up again. We play pretty well together and I think our chances are pretty good,” Gibbons said.
District 2 Boys Tennis
Individual Tournament
Class 2A
Final
Tarquin McGurrin (Scranton Prep) d. Eamon Gibbons (Wyoming Seminary) 6-0, 6-2.
Semifinals
McGurrin d. Andrew Schukraft (Wyoming Seminary) 6-1, 6-1;
Gibbons d. Jack Habeeb (Scranton Prep) 6-2, 6-3
Class 3A
Final
Bailey Harris (Abington Heights) d. Timmy Christman (Abington Heights) 6-4, 6-0
Semifinals
Harris d. Mike Felins (Delaware Valley) 6-1, 6-1
Christman d. Tomas Reese (Delaware Valley) 6-2, 6-1
Christman d. Tomas Reese (Delaware Valley) 6-2, 6-1
