The Sandwich Blue Knights defeated the rebels 4-1 on June 1; thus ending the Rebels season.   The Rebels had a successful season even though they lost in the first round because making the tournament was a big enough feat.  Going into the last week of the season the rebels needed to win three out of their last four matches.  They lost their first one to Framingham by a score of 5-0.  This meant that the Rebels had to overcome this blowout defeat and win out the rest of their games. The Rebels did in fact do this and did so in impressive fashion.  They beat Norwood, Milton, and Catholic Memorial; 4-1, 4-1, 5-0 respectively.  Unfortunately, the Blue Knights ended the Rebels win streak and their season.

The final score, 4-1, is not indicative of how close the match really was.  Reflecting on the match Rogers said, “They were a talented team and the better team won”.  The Rebels were leading 1-0 after one match thanks to spectacular play from senior Brian Lotsbom.  Lotsbom won his match by a score of 7-5.  Lotsbom has been the most consistent player, and his veteran leadership helped him have one of the most successful years.  An under the radar player for the Rebels this year was junior Caleb Cofskey.  Cameron said “He is one of the hardest working players on the team, and it was nice that he got a win in the last game of the year”.  Cofskey is a fundamentally sound tennis player.  He had an impressive match and won 6-0.  Unfortunately these were the only two bright spots of the match.  After these two losses Sandwich came back in impressive fashion sweeping the rest of the matches.  Eventually winning the whole match by a score of 4-1.

One of the major goals this year said Head Coach Shawn Gough “Was to qualify for the postseason”.  Indeed they did, the Rebels made the postseason for the ninth straight year but were bounced in the first round for the second straight year.  Reflecting back on the season all players agree that it was a successful one, even though they did not win a State Championship.  There was not much hope for this Rebels team because they graduated 5 out of the top 7 best players.  But they showed resiliency throughout the entire season and were able to make the tournament.  Junior Nate Cameron said, “We all became better tennis players and will be better next year”.  The Rebels look to reload for next year and a lot of younger players who will be starting next year got some valuable playing time.  Juniors Nate Cameron, Zach Rogers, and Caleb Cofskey are all projected to start next season and they all played considerable matches this year.

Even though the Rebels did not win the state tournament, they were winners in other departments.  They developed a lot of young talent, became better tennis players, but most importantly had fun.