KENNEWICK — As singles players, Tommy James and Aiden Brasier were both state semifinalists.
But as a doubles team for the Camas Papermakers, the two friends were simply unbeatable.
James and Brasier captured the boys doubles title at the 4A state tennis tournament Saturday, beating Jacob Tan and Herkey Briggs of Bellarmine Prep 6-1, 6-1 in the final at The Pacific Clinic.
James reached the final four in 2022, then stepped away from high school tennis during the 2022-23 school year to focus on his studies.
In his place, Brasier reached the semis at state last year.
This year, they teamed up as a dominant doubles pair.
“It’s really special to play with a good friend like Tommy,” Brasier said.
The two friends raced through the 4A bracket in Kennewick, dropping just six games in four matches.
It’s understandable when Tan and Briggs were very enthusiastic about taking a game off James and Brasier to open the state title match on Saturday.
However, the next time the Bellarmine pair won a game, James and Brasier were leading 5-0 in the second set.
Brasier then promptly served out the match for the championship.
James said it felt good to finish off a goal the two friends had when they first decided to play as a doubles team last fall.
“It means a lot,” James said “It gave us a really fun season. We had a lot of good memories together because of this. That’s what is most important.”
It was an all-Camas semifinal when James and Brasier beat Camas teammates Nathan Chen and Kyle Wen 6-1, 6-0 on Saturday morning. Chen and Wen would finish fourth in the tournament.
Leo Zhao won two matches in the consolation singles bracket to help Camas finished tied for second in the team standings. Henry Jackson took the title with 22 points, followed by Camas and Newport with 19.
A second straight team championship for the Camas girls was also a team effort, even though the Papermakers missed out on the top prize in both singles and doubles.
Hailey Kerker was unable to defend her state singles title when she caught a tough match in the semifinals to Newport’s Mia Yoon 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (6).
Kerker bounced back to win the third-place match over Joycie You of Eastlake.
Taryn Kerker and Fiona Zou also weren’t able to repeat as doubles state champions. The Camas pair lost to Lucia Moravek and Anya Moravek of Bellarmine Prep 6-0, 6-3 in the championship match.
