Valley athletes fall in first round of state tennis tourney

PALMER — Kelson McPherson of Juneau-Douglas needed the tiebreaker to get past Palmer’s Johnie Burton during the quarterfinal round of the boys’ singles division of the ASAA/First National Bank State Tennis Championships at Alaska Club East in Anchorage Friday.

McPherson edged Burton (7-5, 2-6, 1-0) in the match. Burton, Palmer’s lone member of its tennis team, will face West Valley’s Brons Gerrish Saturday at 8 a.m. in the consolation bracket.

Burton joined five Colony qualifiers in the state tennis championships. Chugiak’s Jed Butikofer and Izzy Larue defeated Colony’s Michael Conner and Alex Tenditnyk (7-6, 6-2) in the mixed doubles quarterfinals. Service’s Dylan Bruce and Aiden Moon, the second seeds of their bracket, beat Colony’s Owen Ballos and Michael Crawford (6-0, 6-0). West Valley’s Maddie Baumgarten beat Colony’s Peyton Johnstone (6-1, 6-2) in the girls’ singles.

In consolation action Saturday, Ballos and Crawford will face South’s Tom Hanks and Chris Bailey at 9 a.m. Conner and Tenditnyk play Lathrop’s James Kardash and Rachel Jordan at 10 a.m.

Johnstone received a bye in the first round of the consolation bracket, and will play either Chugiak’s Ripley Campnell or Lathrop’s Emilia Helms-Leslie at 10 a.m.

The 2015 tournament marks the first time a Valley athlete competed in the state tennis championships.