BROWNSTOWN

The Brownstown Central boys tennis team responded to its previous day’s loss to Scottsburg by edging Madison 3-2 on Friday afternoon.

At No. 1 singles, Lute Lahrman played some of his best tennis of the season in defeating the Cubs’ Ceaton Bowman 6-1, 6-0.

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“(The win) is good for Lute’s confidence,” Braves coach Ron Slaton said. “The thing about tennis is that when you’re on, everything can go well. However, that can change. Fifteen minutes later you can be off. Tonight, Lute was really on. It’s amazing the turnaround with high school athletes.”

In the No. 3 singles spot, the Braves’ Kent Criminger ousted Jakob Jones 6-0, 6-1.

The clinching victory for the Braves came at No. 2 doubles, as Ethan Carlin and Sy Zickler defeated Clay Vaughn and Kenny Higbie 6-2, 5-2.

Braves senior Cole Brock fell at No. 2 singles 6-3, 6-4 to Riley McGarry in a back-and-forth match.

At No. 2 doubles, Riley Carlin and Sam Hoff faced a tough Cubs tandem of Christian Brown and Zach Burnett.

The Cubs took the first set 7-5, but the Braves fought to force a third set by winning the second 6-3.

In the third set, the Cubs came away with the win at 6-3.

“I think we have a lot of confidence this season,” Lahrman said after his singles match. “Even if we get beat, we’re competing. We fight every day. I think we look pretty good, honestly. We have a lot of heart, we work hard every day with our friends and leave it all on the court.”

With their victory against Madison, the Braves move to 4-2 on the season.

“As long as we can go at least three sets and stay competitive our kids are in good shape,” Slaton said. “We have kids who play other sports who can go three thanks to their endurance.

“I’m really happy with my kids right now. They’re playing hard and giving it everything they’ve got. There’s really not more I can ask as a coach.”

Next up, the Braves travel to the Brown County Invitational today in Nashville.