Hamilton ends Perry's streak, AZ College Prep upsets Prescott in state HS badminton championships
The state high school badminton championships wrapped up this past week, with team, doubles and individual champions crowned. Here's a rundown of the finals:
Division I team
The No. 2-seeded Hamilton Huskies took the team title over the four-time reigning champion and No. 1 seed Perry Pumas in a battle of Chandler Unifeid School District Schools.
Hamilton head coach Lauren Rosales, in an email to The Rpeublic, said her Huskies were determined going into Thursday's state championship final against Perry to finally break through. Hamilton defeated Perry, 5-4, breaking the Pumas' streak of four championships in a row. The teams had been the top contenders all season in D-I.
Perry (14-0 regular season), coached by Lenna Johnson, downed Hamilton (13-1 regular season) 5-4, when the two teams met on Oct. 18.
Division II team
No. 6 AZ College Prep upset No. 1 Prescott, 5-3 Thursday.
Arizona College Prep head coach Andrea Giberson said in an email to the Republic before the match Thursday that, "We played Prescott in Prescott earlier this season and took three matches from them at home. We are hopeful that we can play well enough to win."
The two teams each took home one double's point, however, Prescott couldn't hold on in the single's as only senior Elle Long and junior Riley Crockett took home wins.
AZ College Prep's No. 1 Ashley Yang took home a victory against senior Megan Townsend, 21-14, 22-20.
Division I individual
Coming into the championships, No. 1, sophomore Mangpor Luanvorawat of Mesa Mountain View was undefeated in all of her matches. Going 24-0, 13-0 in singles and 11-0 in doubles. Luanvorawat knocked out No. 8 Journey Barajas of Dobson to advance to the semifinals 21-0, 21-12.
Hamilton sophomore Samiya Bodhankar, who maintained a 27-1 record in overall play this season, defeated Ellie Bawden from Mesa Mountain View in straight sets, 21-6, 21-12. No. 3 Emma James of Perry and No. 5 Merilyn Li of Corona Del Sol rounded out the four semifinalists.
In the semifinals, Luanvorawat defeated Li in straight sets, 21-17, 21-14 while Bodhankar defeated James, 21-4, 21-17.
Luanvorawat went on to defeat Bodhankar in the final to win the championship, but it took sudden death after Bodhankar won the second set. In the consolation final, Li defeated James, while also forcing a sudden death.
Division I Doubles
No. 1 Jordyn Mee and Tricia Despain of Chandler Basha defeated No. 8 Faith Kroening and Ryleigh Dirks of Pinnacle in straight sets, 21-15, 21-14. While Gilbert Highland No. 5 Lainey Jones and Becky Wood were taken out by Amiya Hernandez and Robin Bui of Chandler Perry.
The pairing of Bui and Hernandez however upset Mee and Despain in the semifinals, defeating the No. 1 seed, 21-16, 13-21, 25-23.
No. 2 Saba Shakir and Nihira Sane of Hamilton defeated No. 3 Vienna Morley and Oanh Lee, also of Perry, in straight sets.
Shakir and Sane took home the championship against Bui and Hernandez, 21-6, 21-6.
Division II Singles
No. 1 Megan Townsend of Prescott took on No. 9 Ariel Chandler of Greenway, winning 21-11, 21-13 to move onto the semifinals. Myra Duncan of Scottsdale Chaparral defeated Veronica Eddy of Willow Canyon, in straight sets.
To round out the semifinals, No. 3 Ashley Yang of Chandler AZ College Prep defeated No. 6 Lea Mirchandani of Paradise Valley while No. 2 Mathilde Jacobsen of Buckeye Verrado defeated Phoenix Shadow Mountain, No. 7 Linda Dinh, 21-8, 21-7.
Jacobsen and Townsend, respectively defeated their opponents in straight sets to face each other in the final. Verrado's Jacobsen went on to upset Prescott's Townsend, 21-6, 21-12 to take home the title.
Division II Doubles
Peoria Sunrise Mountain, No. 1 Hattie Hearnen alongside partner Rylan Rhodes took out No. 8 Lauren Farley and Calli Naylor of Prescott, 21-16, 21-9.
Hearnen and Rhodes were unstoppable, defeating both opponents they faced, but No. 5 Ellie Bucher and Chi Chi Bracken of Chaparral forced a sudden death in the semifinals.
Hearnen and Rhodes took home the championship trophy after defeating No. 2 Riley Crockett and Ellie Long of Prescott, 22-20, 21-18.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Hamilton stops Perry, AZ College Prep upsets Prescott in badminton
