Lawrence High boys tennis coach Dick Wedel may have finally found his doubles teams.

The Lions have shuffled their No. 1 and No. 2 doubles teams most of the season. Yet, despite struggling at Thursday’s Lawrence Invitational, No. 1 pair James Garito and Tommy Johnson and No. 2 Rahul Gogineni and Issac Severance impressed Wedel enough to let them stick it out.

“I’m certainly going to have them keep playing together,” Wedel said afterward at Lawrence Tennis Center. “We’re gonna have some other guys that are going to be in the mix and probably challenge them, but I think I’ll keep the pairings.”

The Lions finished fourth overall, behind tournament champ Shawnee Mission East, but the doubles pairings seem promising after just one tournament.

Garito, a junior, and Johnson, a sophomore, dropped their first two matches, but rallied from 3-1 in the seventh-place match for an 8-7 (7-2) victory against Leavenworth. Garito said ending the tournament with a win eased the frustration.

“Actually, it does,” he said. “We played well together. The first couple games we had a lot of unforced errors. But the last one we played well and managed to jell.”

With just three weeks left before Class 6A regionals, they’re not worried about a time crunch, either.

“I think it’s perfect timing,” Johnson said. “We’ll have lots of time to practice and really come together. We gained a lot of confidence from tonight.”

Lawrence High junior Doug Raney returns the ball to Baldwin's Ben Knoll. Raney won the match, 6-4, 6-1, Thursday at Lawrence Tennis Center.

Gogenini and Severance finished sixth, losing to Baldwin, 8-5, in the fifth-place match.

Senior Doug Raney was fourth at No. 2 singles, losing to Blue Valley Northwest’s Mahesh Polavarupu, 6-4, 6-3, in the third-round match.

Senior Scott Elwell was the Lions’ highest placer, taking third at No. 1 singles. He dropped his second match, 6-0, 6-3, to Shawnee Mission East’s Garrett Gates, whom Elwell had beaten the last time the two played.

Elwell rebounded to beat Blue Valley Northwest’s Jonathan Hack, 6-0, 6-4, for third, but was still a steamed afterward about losing to Gates. The two likely will meet again at the Sunflower League meet May 13.

“I hope so,” Elwell said. “I’m definitely hoping for a rematch. It’ll give me time to find my game.”