By Jordan J. Michael

SCHENECTADY –– The Guilderland boys’ tennis team’s six-year streak of playing in sectional finals came to an end last Friday, but some individual players are still winning big.

Dylan Scott, Mike Donadio, Alex Bush, Evan Farina, Shane DeMoree, and Haani Virjee took to the courts of Central Park in Schenectady on Tuesday for the first three rounds of individual sectionals.

When the day was done, Scott and the doubles team of Bush and Farina were left with spots in the quarterfinals. Donadio will be back for another year, but DeMoree and Virjee leave as seniors.

Virjee was paired with DeMoree for doubles and the team lost its third-round match, 10-7, to Mitch Burhoe and Dan Burton of Glens Falls. Virjee was unhappy with the way his tennis career ended with the Dutch.

“We had all these chances to break, but we made too many errors,” Virjee said. “We killed ourselves with unforced errors. That’s not the way you want to go out.”

Scott, the fourth overall seed in the tournament, dominated all three of his opponents. Scott’s 10-to-2 win over Eian McKeever of Cairo-Durham secured another day of life. McKeever clearly couldn’t handle Scott’s powerful strokes.

“My shots are heavy and they have some spin to them,” said Scott, who is attending the University of Miami this fall. “I felt really good in that last match. I overpowered him. I can’t stand to lose.”

“He’s better than anyone if he’s in the zone,” Head Coach Curtis Snyder said of Scott. “He’s worked hard to be a natural player. Really good foundational strokes and he can torch the ball. He just needs to be in that winning mood.”

Farina and Bush had the privilege of being the number-one seed in doubles because both players were ranked high in singles during the season.

“We tried to play doubles together as much as possible,” said Farina after the team completed the day with a 10-to-4 win over Sam Matacchiero and Chris Atarcon of Icabod Crane. “Our games co-exist and it works perfectly. We cover the court.”

With 16 matches going on at the same time and only one official on the grounds, players have to trust each other with the correct calls.

“Sometimes you wonder if the ball caught the line,” Farina said. “But, you’ve just got to go with it and not cause a scene.”