McLaughlin, Shaw take first at Putnam City North

By Jeff Harrison
Midwest City Beacon

Carl Albert’s boys tennis team won gold at the Putnam City North Tournament last week at the OKC Tennis Center.

The Titans swept the singles titles and finished third in doubles.

Senior Keegan McLaughlin moped up the competition at No. 1 singles. He dropped only one game all day as he cruised to a championship. McLaughlin beat Duncan’s Jonah Link in the finals, 6-0, 6-1.

Tyler Shaw was the winner at No. 2 singles. He took the title with a win over Lawton Eisenhower’s James Lopez (6-3, 6-4).

Luke Fouquette and Carter Reese finished third at No. 1 doubles. The pair beat Del City (6-1, 6-0) and Putnam City North (6-3, 6-2) before falling to Duncan in the semifinals, 7-5, 6-2. They followed with a three-set win over Choctaw in the third-place match.

At No. 2 doubles, T.J. Niles and Ben Sutterfield had a similar outing. They beat El Reno (6-0, 6-0) and Lawton Eisenhower (6-3, 6-0) before losing to Duncan in the semifinals (6-2, 6-4). Niles and Sutterfield bounced back to beat OCS, 6-1, 7-5, for third place.

The Titans won the tournament with 58 points. Duncan was three points back in second and Mustang was third with 51.

Carl Albert also competed in the Tournament of Champions Thursday at Heritage Hall. The event was originally scheduled for March 24, but it was postponed due to weather. Most teams played two matches on Friday before play was called due to rain.

The Titans picked up a couple of big wins in doubles play.

Fouquette and McLaughlin paired up to beat Heritage Hall in a third-set tiebreaker at No. 1 doubles. They had another tough draw in the semifinals against Jenks. Fouquette and McLaughlin lost 6-2, 6-2. They were set to play Edmond Memorial for third place.

Sutterfield and Shaw went 1-1 at No. 2 doubles. They beat Jenks in the opening round (1-6, 6-4, 11-9) but came up short against Memorial (6-3, 6-0). The pair were set to face Holland Hall for third.
Niles and Reese both dropped their only matches in singles play. At No. 1 singles, Niles lost to Heritage Hall’s Porter Arens, 6-0, 6-1. And Reese fell to Heritage Hall’s Larsen Van Horn, 6-2, 6-0, at No. 2 singles.

The Titans competed in the Suburban Conference Tournament on Monday in Shawnee and will head back to Heritage Hall Thursday for a dual with the Chargers.