EAST CHICAGO | The new tournament format fit Morton to a "T."
Playing in the East Chicago/Hammond Tournament for the first time, the Governors took first at No. 1 singles and No. 2 doubles to win the team trophy.
Morton finished with 25 points, followed by Bishop Noll (23), E.C. Central (22), Gavit (10) and Clark (5).
Zach Gonzalez defeated Noll's Peter Larson at No. 1 singles 6-2, 6-7 (11-13), 7-5 in what turned out to be the deciding match for the team championship.
"I knew when we started the third set that the winner would decide the team win," Gonzalez said. "It added a little more pressure to the situation, but I felt pretty confident I could help my team."
Gonzalez jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the third set, only to have Larson tie it at 5-5. But then Gonzalez drove several deep baseline shots to pull out the set 7-5.
At No. 2 doubles, the tandem of Taylor Waclawik and Mike Sikorski brought the Govs eight points with a convincing 6-4, 6-0 win over Noll's Zachary Machuca and David Flores.
"It felt really good to get the first points of the night," Waclawik said. "It was the second time we played them and we did much better this time around."
"We've been playing really well as a team the last week or more," Sikorski said, referring to the GLAC crown the Govs won last week. "This tops off a busy week that was really rewarding."
Bishop Noll's Nick Skurka won at No. 2 singles. E.C. Central's Erik Romo won at No. 3 singles, and the Cardinals' duo of Anthony Serna and Antonio Fernandez won at No. 1 doubles.
The two-year-old tournament has replaced the Hammond City Classic. With the addition of the Cardinals, it has acquired a regional flavor. All of the schools contributed food and barbecue grills, emphasizing camaraderie among the schools.
"We want this to be a fun tournament between conference and sectional play," E.C. coach and tournament co-director Dave Lane said. "We want the kids to look forward to this at the end of a hard season as a fun reward for their hard work."
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