Oregon 5A boys tennis: La Salle Prep's Aidan McBride (singles), Crescent Valley's Luke Forester-Richard Wang (doubles), Crescent Valley (team) earn titles

By Dan Brood 

Aidan McBride was tired.

Yeah, he was totally worn out. 

Tired, yes, but not too tired to smile.

And it was a championship smile.

McBride, a La Salle Prep sophomore, outlasted Churchill junior Carsen Luna to get a grueling victory in the boys singles title match at the Class 5A state tennis championships, held Friday and Saturday at the Portland Tennis Center and the Babette Horenstein Tennis Center in Beaverton.

“As a sophomore, it’s pretty great. And I just earned it,” McBride said of his championship. “I’m very tired. I think we had like 30 total deuce points. It took forever.”

McBride, the top seed, didn’t exactly have an easy path to the final, as he needed three sets to beat Wilsonville senior Ben Pinoli in the semifinals. That put him in Saturday’s final against fourth-seeded Luna, who had two three-set victories, including a semifinal win over No. 2 seed Noah Curtis of Crescent Valley. 

That set up the title showdown, which turned out to be the longest championship match of the day at the Beaverton site.

McBride got off to a strong start, winning the first set 6-1. But Luna came back strong, taking the second set 6-4.

McBride looked to regain momentum in the third set, going up 4-1. But again, Luna fought back, cutting the lead to 5-3.

In the ninth game of the set, which, of course, went to deuce, McBride was finally able to convert on a long match point, clinching him a 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 win — and the championship. 

“I just felt relieved that it was over,” McBride said. “I think I had a little more momentum in the third set. It was my mentality. That guy, he got everything back. I just kept hitting it and made a couple key plays.”

McBride’s win made it a La Salle Prep sweep of the singles titles, as Falcons freshman Kennedy Harris won the girls singles state championship. 

“Coach said he’d have to look at the records, but it’s been a while since both the La Salle girls and boys won,” McBride said.

Curtis got a 6-1, 6-0 win over Pinoli in the boys singles third-place match.

In the boys doubles championship match, the No. 3-seeded team of Crescent Valley junior Luke Forester and freshman Richard Wang notched a 6-1, 6-2 victory over the fourth-seeded duo of Redmond junior Tanner Jones and senior Nico Afti. 

In the boys doubles third-place match, a The Dalles team of juniors Paul Capek and Paul Kelly earned a 6-4, 7-6 (9-7) win over West Albany juniors Caleb Simpkins and Hudson Clark.

Crescent Valley won the boys team championship with 11 points, barely edging La Salle Prep, which had a score of 10.5. Wilsonville was third with 10 points, and Churchill was fourth with a score of 6.5.

“This was fun. It was a blast,” McBride said. “Next year, we’re getting the (first-place) blue (trophy). We’re not settling for silver.”