Demons fight past Cougars into 4th round again

Maybe the Fike High boys tennis team should adopt the slogan (apologies to the Beastie Boys): “No rest ‘til Burlington,” which is the next stop for two-thirds of the Golden Demons lineup.

Fike will get a day off Thursday after winning its second NCHSAA 3-A dual-team tennis playoff match in as many days with a 5-1 conquest of Croatan. The 3-A Quad County Conference-champion Demons, seeded third in the 3-A East field of 32, march into the fourth round for the second year in a row to take second-seeded Terry Sanford on Monday, May 13, in Fayetteville.

Fike had to scrap to get past Croatan, the 3-A Coastal Conference champion that wasn’t going to go down quietly after winning 19 matches without a loss. The Demons (18-1) averted having to play doubles as they won their five singles matches in straight sets but few were easy.

Senior Snyder Pearson got his 14th singles win in 17 matches with a 6-0, 6-1 conquest of Ty Nickson at No. 1. At the bottom of the singles lineup for Fike was Pearson’s younger brother, Collins, who dealt Croatan’s Nathan Kahrimanovic a 6-2, 6-3 loss at No. 6 for his 17th win without a loss in his freshman season.

Senior Dylan Skinner, junior Zachary Hill and sophomore Cian Bonner took singles wins for Fike, which hasn’t played Terry Sanford since losing to the Bulldogs in the third round in 2022.

With the match outcome decided with Fike’s fifth singles win, doubles matches were not played. That was helpful considering the Demons had to beat Durham School of the Arts on Tuesday after the match was postponed Monday for ran that never fell.

“This was a tough match on a short turnaround,” Fike head coach Lee Matthews said. “We were fortunate to get the win in singles. Now, it’s off to Burlington for the individual state championships on Friday and Saturday. Hopefully, we can get some rest tonight and Thursday.”

The Pearsons, who were 3-A East Regional doubles runner-up, and East No. 3 tandem of Skinner-Hill will be playing in Burlington on Friday and, if each duo wins twice, Saturday, before the Demons turn their attention to Terry Sanford and the 3-A East final Monday.

FIKE 5, CROATAN 1

Snyder Pearson (F) d. Ty Nickson 6-0, 6-1; Jack Balog (Cr) d. Hatten Gore 6-2, 6-0; Dylan Skinner (F) d. Ian Balog 6-4, 6-2; Zachary Hill (F) d. Dylan Tradewell 6-1, 6-1; Cian Bonner (F) d. James Baile 6-4, 7-5; Collins Pearson (F) d. Nathan Kahrimanovic 6-2, 6-3

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