Free State tennis juniors Sawyer Nickel and Davis Steadman knew they had their hands full heading into their respective singles title matches on Friday at the LHS Invitational.

Steadman was pitted against Shawnee Mission East’s Billy Louiselle, who didn’t lose a game in the previous two rounds, and Nickel was matched up against Billy’s brother, Jake.

Nickel and Steadman each knew the brothers were going to be a challenge, and both players ultimately came up short in their respective losses. Nickel lost, 8-3, to Jake in No. 1 singles, and Steadman fell to Billy, 8-2 in No. 2 singles.

Those wins helped Shawnee Mission East to a first-place finish and 24 points in the six-team tournament. Free State finished in second with 20 points.

Still, Nickel walked away pleased with his performance. He often forced Jake into long rallies and hit several shots down the lines to win points.

“I think I played pretty well, he kind of just went out there and outplayed me,” Nickel said. “But I’m looking forward to league (play) and maybe facing him or his brother again. I’m pretty happy with how I played.”

As for Steadman, he defeated both Shawnee Mission South’s William Kelley and Olathe Northwest’s Shane McIntosh by 8-5 scores to reach the title game against Billy.

Steadman said he wished he had played better in those matches, but he saw improvement in his game against Billy. Steadman was the only player on the day to win at least one game against him.

“Personally, I feel like I could have done better my first two matches, but at the end, I played pretty well and maybe could have won a couple more games,” Steadman said. “But (Billy’s) a good player.”

In doubles play for the Firebirds, both pairs of players also reached the title games against the Lancers. Senior Erik Czapinski and junior Trey Melvin lost only a total of two games before a matchup against Shawnee Mission East’s Blake Eason and Jackson Fenton.

However, after taking an early lead, Czapinski and Melvin ultimately fell to Eason and Fenton, 8-5 in No. 1 doubles.

In the No. 2 doubles matchup, seniors Jack Kelsey and Sam Six were unable to win a game in a loss to Shawnee Mission East’s Hayden Leatherwood and Jacob Tilton.

Despite losing all of its matches to Shawnee Mission East in the singles and doubles titles games, Nickel said he was impressed with how the Firebirds’ put themselves in position to potentially win in the final rounds.

“I think we did pretty well, team-wise,” Nickel said. “We did what we were supposed to do. I think we’re looking good going into next week.”

As for the hosting Lawrence High squad, the Lions finished fourth with 11 points. Coach Chris Marshall said since some members of his team had played 13 matches in the last four days, fatigue may have played a factor in the final result.

“We have been playing a lot,” Marshall said. “I noticed that a lot of our players are tired, so that was probably one of the biggest things I noticed.”

Senior Remi Eakin recorded LHS’ best individual finish of the day, when he finished third in No. 2 singles play. Eakin didn’t drop a game in his third-place match against Shawnee Mission South’s William Kelley.

“I was pleased,” Marshall said. “Remi did a good job taking third.”

Marshall said he was also hoping the doubles pairing of Kanak Masten and Cooper Wright, along with Stephen Teska and Ryan Logan could have pulled out third-place finishes.

However, each pairing lost to Shawnee Mission South by 8-5 scores.

“We played a pretty good Shawnee Mission South team and just made too many mistakes,” Marshall said. “But overall, it was a learning process, so I’m pleased with (our performance).”