Century wins fifth boys’ tennis state title in 13 years

POCATELLO — When junior Tiden Lynn took the court for the boys singles state championship, he was playing for more than just an individual title.

Lynn knew a win would make him an individual state champion. He was also aware that victory would be the difference between winning a team state championship by a half-point or coming in second, for the second year in a row, by 1-1/2 points to Bishop Kelly.

Lynn said that the pressure was on him, even before the state meet started at the Boise Racquet Club.

“Everybody was relying on me for the team to win, and I was like, ‘The odds of that are so low,'” he told EastIdahoSports.com.

After picking off fellow contenders one at a time, though, Lynn found himself in match point with everything just one swing away.

Asked when they first thought this year’s team had what it would take to make Century High School the state champions of boys tennis, Lynn and head coach Sean Kane had similar responses.

“On Feb. 27, when the season started,” Kane said.

“We believed it right when the season started,” Lynn added. “We knew that, as long as everybody played how they can normally play, we believed we had a chance. Obviously, it’s not guaranteed — we’re competing with the best of the best.”

That belief received a violent shove forward at the annual Capital Classic, when the Century boys finished second.

“Winning Capital is way harder than winning state, if you ask me,” Lynn said.

At the Capital, teams aren’t separated by division. The Diamondbacks weren’t just going against fellow state 5A challengers like Bishop Kelly, they were going up against 6A powerhouses like Boise and Eagle, and teams from Oregon and Washington.

So coming home with a second-place finish gave Lynn, Kane and the rest of the boys a jolt of confidence.

And as Hillcrest’s Tayson Nelson mishandled his serve for match point in the boys’ singles state championship match, Lynn dealt with his elation in the only way possible for a high school singles tennis player — he took the spare ball out of his pocket and sent it sailing high into the air.

Lynn’s victory gave Century 41.5 points, just enough to top Bishop Kelly’s 41.

Though they were favorites much of the season, both Kane and Lynn explained that, in tennis, there is no clock a team can use to secure victory. Every point must be played to completion. To win, players must execute their shot or force the other player into an error.

But, Kane continued, his job as the coach is to make sure all his players are ready to make those plays when the rubber meets the road.

“We have the high expectations of winning state titles, individually or as a team, that’s just kinda always been the goal since the start,” Kane said of the Century tennis program. “Everyone buys into the mantra of trying to win a state title. I think that buy-in is part of it, but really, it’s on them to go out and do the work. I just tell them to make me look good, and they did a good job of it.”

Coming out of the fifth district means Century arrives at the state meet with one hand tied behind its back.

With only a limited number of spots available to D5 teams, Century sent just two boys’ singles players, Lynn and Jude Davids, and the doubles team of Shep Butler and Liam McGee to the state meet.

Bishop Kelly, for comparison, had two boys’ doubles teams and two boys’ singles players at the meet.

With each match won giving points to the team, that meant Bishop Kelly, like other schools, had more opportunities to stack points than Century.

Kane called that a “huge disadvantage.”

“So, to be able to do what we do is so hard,” the coach said.

Kane and the Century boys’ tennis team have now won the state championship five times since 2012, matching Treasure Valley power Bishop Kelly over that stretch and proving that high-level tennis is played in eastern Idaho.

“We get, kinda, the shaft. We’re just as good as anyone,” Kane said of eastern Idaho schools when it comes to tennis.

And while three local schools finished in the top five in the state in 5A boys’ tennis alone — Century, Hillcrest and Idaho Falls — it was Century that brought home the top prize, making the Diamondbacks the East Idaho Sports boys’ tennis Team of the Year.