Bardstown senior John Stone couldn’t think of a better way to wrap up his career than making his first trip to the Kentucky State Tennis Championships in Lexington and winning a match.

“I loved it,” he said, “but the first match I was a little nervous.”

Still, he and doubles partner Clayton Brooks, a junior — the first Bardstown boys to make the state tournament since 2005 — were able to settle their nerves long enough Thursday morning at Sayre High School to eliminate Lawrence County’s squad of Jacob Estep and Alex Hardin, 7-5, 6-3.

Stone said it was nice for he and Brooks — who have largely had their way against local competition over the past two seasons — to test themselves against some of the best players in Kentucky.

“That was the most fun I’ve had playing tennis,” he said. “It was an exciting moment.”

Brooks and Stone went down swinging in their second-round match before falling 6-2, 6-4 to Lafayette’s Nathan Gillespie and Taylor Harris, who were later knocked out by the top-seeded Paducah Tilghman brother combo of Alek and Ethan Rowton, 6-3, 6-2.

Tiger sophomores Gabi Hamilton and Anna Jones found the going rougher in the girls’ doubles bracket, falling Thursday at the University of Kentucky’s Boone/Downing Tennis Center to North Laurel’s Mikaela Prichard and Caroline Moore, 6-2, 6-4, in the first round.

Hamilton and Jones were the first girls in Bardstown history to qualify for the state tennis tournament.

Courtesy of Peter W. Zubaty, Kentucky Standard