KALISPELL — Gallatin’s Mason McCarty made a bit of Montana tennis history, while Great Falls CMR’s Georgia Pike denied Missoula Hellgate’s Elliotte Banziger her own slice.
McCarty cruised to the Class AA boys singles title Friday, becoming just the fifth male in state history to win four consecutive championships. He defeated Kalispell Glacier’s Colton Manotvani 6-0, 6-0 in the final and dropped just three games in his four tournament victories.
Banziger was trying to accomplish the same championship run as McCarty. Banziger had won three girls singles championships, but her run was ended by Pike, who won Friday’s final 6-4, 6-1.
Banziger had won her first two matches by 6-0, 6-0 scores until Gallatin’s Darta Egle battled Banziger in the semis. Banziger won 7-5, 6-1, but Pike was too much in the final.
Now it’ll be Pike’s turn to try to become the fifth girl to win four singles titles. The freshman lost just one game heading into the final, where after a tight first set she took control and firmly grasped the championship.
Emma Duncan and Weslley Banziger — Elliotte’s sister — claimed the girls doubles title for Hellgate with a roller-coaster 6-4, 0-6, 6-2 win over Alex Mansour and Raena Wilson of Gallatin. Weslley Banziger and Duncan dropped just the one set on their way to the title.
The boys’ doubles title went to Harrison Rotar and Collin Gross of Bozeman in a straight-sets win over Eli Crist and Howard Daniel of Great Falls CMR. Rotar and Gross won an extended tiebreaker in the first set (11-9) before commanding the second set for a 7-6, 6-2 victory.
Hellgate’s title-match appearances helped the Knights earn their third girls team title in the past four years. The Knights tallied 33 points, followed by Gallatin in second place (26) and CMR in third (20).
In the boys’ team race, CMR claimed the title for the third year in a row and for the fourth time in five seasons, counting 2022 when the Rustlers tied with Bozeman. The Rustlers racked up 26 points against Gallatin’s 18 second-place points. Bozeman and Helena Capital tied for third with 16 points each.
Consolation championships went to Egle in girls singles; Cadence Daniels and Cassidy Daniels of Kalispell Glacier in girls doubles; Jack Currie-Welch and Andrew Duman of Hellgate in boys doubles; and Cooper Laslovich of Helena Capital, who rallied after losing the first set, in boys singles.
