Sports > Schools
24 Hour Party People: Panthers celebrate trip to regionals after hectic day
BY Kevin Hageland, khageland@starlocalnews.com
When Plano East's Vishal Menon won his match Thursday evening against Allen, that was the final point the Panthers needed for a trip to the Region II Tournament.
But the ensuing celebration was not one of a team headed to regionals for the first time since 2003.
"It was more relief than a huge celebration," said Don Allen, East head coach.
That makes sense considering this was the second time in three days East thought it had qualified for regionals.
The first came Tuesday after East defeated McKinney Boyd, 10-9, in the District 10-5A Semifinals. The top two teams advance, so the Panthers would have to lose to Plano West in the finals while Allen defeated Boyd in the third-place match and East in the playback match to lose the regional spot.
Allen had lost to East and Boyd in the regular season, but made things interesting.
"I was getting continual texts from the coaches involved," Allen said. "Boyd was up on Allen the first time, 5-2, after doubles and now they were down, 4-3. That's quite a turnaround, so at that point I was a bit concerned."
While the Panthers lost to the Wolves on Wednesday, 10-4, the Eagles upset the Broncos, 10-9. That meant Allen and East would have a playback Thursday with the winner advancing to regionals.
"In our district there isn't a big difference between us, Boyd and Allen, so you know the fourth-place team can beat second," Allen said. "And we knew this was a win or the season would be over type of situation, but we had just been in that same spot two days prior against Boyd, so I think that helped our mindset.
"This was not a time to get soft or be fearful, so I told the kids to go out there and show we were the better team."
East accomplished that task.
Five of the seven doubles matches went the distance, but the Panthers won four of the three-setters to take a 5-2 lead at the turn.
"That was really huge for us," Allen said.
East would win five singles matches as well, with the final one coming from Menon.
"When Vishal won his match I had to tell the kids, 'hey, that was 10,'" Allen said. "At that point I think it all started to hit them and they finally started jumping around a bit."
East is now set for the 16-team regional tournament, which is Friday and Saturday in Tyler, for the first time in nine years.
"In the spring we thought we could be in position for one of those top two spots and the kids have worked really hard and played together to reach this point," Allen said. "But we aren't going to regionals to be the team that is just happy to get there; we will continue to sharpen our skills so we can represent our school well."
But the ensuing celebration was not one of a team headed to regionals for the first time since 2003.
"It was more relief than a huge celebration," said Don Allen, East head coach.
That makes sense considering this was the second time in three days East thought it had qualified for regionals.
The first came Tuesday after East defeated McKinney Boyd, 10-9, in the District 10-5A Semifinals. The top two teams advance, so the Panthers would have to lose to Plano West in the finals while Allen defeated Boyd in the third-place match and East in the playback match to lose the regional spot.
Allen had lost to East and Boyd in the regular season, but made things interesting.
"I was getting continual texts from the coaches involved," Allen said. "Boyd was up on Allen the first time, 5-2, after doubles and now they were down, 4-3. That's quite a turnaround, so at that point I was a bit concerned."
While the Panthers lost to the Wolves on Wednesday, 10-4, the Eagles upset the Broncos, 10-9. That meant Allen and East would have a playback Thursday with the winner advancing to regionals.
"In our district there isn't a big difference between us, Boyd and Allen, so you know the fourth-place team can beat second," Allen said. "And we knew this was a win or the season would be over type of situation, but we had just been in that same spot two days prior against Boyd, so I think that helped our mindset.
"This was not a time to get soft or be fearful, so I told the kids to go out there and show we were the better team."
East accomplished that task.
Five of the seven doubles matches went the distance, but the Panthers won four of the three-setters to take a 5-2 lead at the turn.
"That was really huge for us," Allen said.
East would win five singles matches as well, with the final one coming from Menon.
"When Vishal won his match I had to tell the kids, 'hey, that was 10,'" Allen said. "At that point I think it all started to hit them and they finally started jumping around a bit."
East is now set for the 16-team regional tournament, which is Friday and Saturday in Tyler, for the first time in nine years.
"In the spring we thought we could be in position for one of those top two spots and the kids have worked really hard and played together to reach this point," Allen said. "But we aren't going to regionals to be the team that is just happy to get there; we will continue to sharpen our skills so we can represent our school well."
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