Newport Harbor boys’ tennis holds off Edison behind sweep from Josh Watkins

The Newport Harbor High boys’ tennis team finished in second place in the Sunset League last season, while Edison finished fifth.

Past performance isn’t always reflective of the current situation, though, especially in high school sports.

The Sailors lost six starters off that team from a year ago, while Edison added freshman Jason You at No. 1 singles.

So the teams, both looking for their first league win, battled it out Thursday afternoon at Newport Harbor. In the end, the Sailors hung on for a 10-8 victory.

Junior Josh Watkins swept 6-0, 6-0, 6-1 at No. 1 singles for Newport Harbor (7-4, 1-1 in league). Watkins said he had confidence after doing well in a United States Tennis Assn. Level 3 tournament last weekend in Tucson, Ariz.

As important to Watkins as the individual victories was the Sailors getting a win after falling to league favorite Fountain Valley by a 15-3 score on Tuesday.

“It was a really big deal for us,” Watkins said. “We’ve had a couple of tough losses over the last couple of weeks, and it was really good for our confidence to get this one. It was an all-around awesome team effort … We don’t have as much talent as we did last year, but we still have so much team spirit that I think that it makes up for that.”

Newport Harbor built a 5-1 lead on Edison (3-5, 0-2) after the first round. Senior Damian Moreno concluded the round for the Sailors with a 7-6 (7-2) tiebreaker victory over Edison junior Kainoa Nagao at No. 3 singles.

The Chargers battled back to within 7-5 after the second round, but Newport Harbor got quick singles wins from Watkins and senior Andy Myers in the third round to get to nine set wins. The clinching 10th set was won by the Sailors’ No. 3 doubles team of Ace Thayer and Julian Hernandez, who won the last three games to rally for a 6-4 win over Edison’s duo of Blake Hepburn and Matt Bullette.

“A lot of these guys haven’t been in this moment before, on this stage,” Newport Harbor coach Kristen Case said. “They’re learning, and they’re learning quickly. It’s been really fun to watch. They’re excited, they’re fresh, they’re eating up every aspect of it. It’s really fun to watch the raw energy, enthusiasm and just eagerness to learn all about it. It’s a totally different ballgame for them, and they’re loving it.”

Myers won twice in singles for the Sailors, while Nick Nataupsky and Prescott Cook won twice at No. 1 doubles.

Edison got two singles wins from You and one from sophomore Ryan Lum. The doubles pairing of Jack Horton and Logan Sherouse, both juniors, swept 6-1, 7-6, 6-4 for the Chargers.

Hepburn and Bullette also won once for Edison, as did the substitute team of Austin Meyer and Nick Beebe.

Horton and Sherouse are part of an Edison starting lineup that features six juniors, but no seniors. They consider basketball their primary sport, as they are both guards on the school’s basketball team, but tennis is also becoming more of a priority.

“Basketball is still a little bit above, but I’m passionate about tennis and we’re both still competitive,” Horton said. “We had a good preseason. Sunset League is super-tough, but we’re hoping to get a couple of wins. I’m pretty optimistic about this team … Hopefully we’ll be contenders next year when we’re all seniors.”

Newport Harbor plays at Estancia in a nonleague match April 5, while Edison’s next match is a league match April 10 at home against Fountain Valley.

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