ANDOVER – After cruising through a quick and decisive 5A singles semifinal win, Bishop Carroll’s Brandon Steven spent the next few hours in waiting mode.

Steven cruised to a 6-0, 6-3 win over Andover Central’s Henry Walker while the other semifinal saw reigning champion Evan Goates from Maize South outlast Andover’s Harsha Maradana in a marathon three-setter that lasted over 3 hours.

“My dad was like telling me all the time: Stay in the shade, keep staying in the shade,” Steven said. “It was getting hotter every second. I stayed in the shade and then I just tried to rely on what I’ve been taught and apply it, which I did.”

Fresh and focused, Steven completed his dominant run with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Goates to capture the 5A singles title on Saturday at Andover Public Schools Tennis Complex.

During his long wait between matches, Steven got a chance to watch some of the doubles final that saw Carroll’s Gabe Weber and Braeden Dugan finish off a perfect doubles season with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Blue Valley Southwest’s Hamza Khan and Sabinth Kathiresan.

The doubles title match had already been completed by the time Steven and Goates took the court for their rubber match after splitting their first four meetings this season.

After Goates got a service break to even up the first set at 2-2, Steven reeled off eight straight games, never allowing Goates to find a rhythm.

“I had to focus on having a good dominant serve, and then just having a solid backhand,” Steven said. “I just couldn’t give him free points and I had to make him have to win every point. I’m not the hardest hitting player here, I'm just consistent, and that’s all you need.”

Steven, a sophomore, finished 29-2. He avenged last year’s state semifinal loss to Goates, who closed his tremendous career with a 34-3 senior season. Steven won his last three matches against Goates, including a crucial victory in the regional title match that gave him the No. 1 seed at state.

“I've been thinking about (the semifinal loss) since last year, just trying to get better for this year,” Steven said. “This means everything to me.

“I’ve been playing against Evan for so long. We’ve played like 20 times,” Steven added. “He’s a good guy and pushed me to play better. I love playing against him.”

Steven became the third Carroll singles player to win a state title, joining Rodney Steven III and Jack Oxler.

He added another piece to the Steven family’s storied tennis history, becoming the eighth member of his extended family to win a state title. The Steven family has combined for 12 state titles at Kapaun and Carroll. The first six came at Kapaun (Julie Steven in 1990, Rodney Steven II in 1990, Corey Steven from 1999-2001 and Brent Steven in 2000) while the last six were all captured at Carroll (Breckyn Steven in 2015, Rodney III in 2016 and 2017, Brynn Steven in 2022 and 2023 and Brandon this year).

“His intensity and his attention to detail and how focused he can be is really impressive,” Carroll coach Darren Huslig said of Brandon Steven. “And that's probably why he does as well as he does. He was super focused all day and did everything to get himself pumped up for every point.

“Watching (Goates and Steven) go back and forth is fun. We know it's going to be a battle and it's going to be some high level tennis. You have to make sure you can forget the last point because both players are too good to hang your head at any point.”

Goates had to empty the tank in his grueling semifinal against the freshman Maradana, who was one point away from securing his spot in the final. However,
Goates fought off match point in the second set and tied it at 5-5, ultimately pulling out a 6-7 (1), 7-6 (2), 6-1 win.

“I just had to grind it out,” Goates said. “Even if I didn’t believe it, I just kept playing to see where it would get me.”

Goates tried to get himself replenished in the hour between matches but struggled to put any pressure on Steven, who constantly chased down balls and dictated the pace in the final. 

“Brandon definitely earned it,” Goates said. “He played well. I’m proud of him. He definitely deserved it.

“I never got any momentum, and he played really well.”

Like Steven, Weber and Dugan were on a mission and had a near flawless state tournament.

“When they committed to playing doubles this year, winning (the state title) was the only goal they were really going to be happy with,” Huslig said. “The fact they were able to finish it off is pretty impressive.”

They topped Blue Valley Southwest’s Saket Jagannath and Vidhu Reddy, 6-1, 6-1 in the semis before capping the 31-0 season by beating the Southwest freshman duo, Khan and Kathiresan.

“It's just such an honor,” said Weber, a senior. “I'm so proud of Braeden and me. I wasn't expecting us to go undefeated. I'm just very happy.”

After placing fourth at state last year, Weber and Dugan cruised through the state tournament this year without dropping a set.

“After we lost last year, we knew that we were going to be the strongest returning team,” said Dugan, a sophomore. “We put in a lot of work over the summer, and improved our individual games, and that really helped us this season.”

Dugan and Weber started their stress-free tournament with a 6-0, 6-2 win over St. James’ Brady Harley and Alec King and then took a 6-0, 6-3 win over Johnny and Andrew Korfhage from Kapaun. Dugan and Weber dropped just 10 games during their title run.

“It just makes it easier when you have so much confidence in your partner,” said Weber, who will play at Cowley College next season. “It definitely is a high note for the end of my high school career and no better way to finish off my senior year.”

“We have good chemistry,” Dugan said. “We're confident in each other, winning points, putting balls away. We could really control the court, be aggressive. It was awesome to see Gabe go out with a state championship.”

Despite sweeping the singles and doubles titles, Carroll settled for third place in the team standings with 32 points behind state champion Maize South (42) and runner-up Blue Valley Southwest (33).

“That was pretty awesome for us to get first and first,” Huslig said. “Wish we could have done a little bit better after taking first and first, but the point system is set up in a way to have a ‘true team’ represented. Maize South had all four playing today, so it's kind of hard to argue with that.”

In the third-place matches, Walker beat Maradana 6-2, 6-3, and Maize South’s Kurniadi and Lowe defeated Southwest’s Jagannath and Reddy, 6-3, 6-2.
 

 

 

CLASS 5A STATE TENNIS 

At Andover Public School Tennis Complex

SINGLES 

Championship – Brandon Steven, Carroll, def. Goates, Maize South, 6-2, 6-1. Third place – Henry Walker, Andover Central, def. Harsha Maradana, 6-4, 6-2. Fifth place – Luke Niesen, St. James, def. Breckin Martin, Spring Hill, 8-5. Seventh place – Nidhish Padmanaban, Blue Valley Southwest, def. Andrew Chan, Andover, inj. Ninth place – Landon Cook, Maize South, def. Gabriel Tamayo, Valley Center, 8-3. 11th place – Nick Neff, Valley Center, def. Brett Baltuska, Aquinas, 9-8 (6). 

DOUBLES 

Championship – Gabe Weber/Braeden Dugan, Carroll, def. Hamza Khan/Sabinth Kathiresan, Blue Valley Southwest, 6-1, 6-2. Third place – Jacob Kurniadi/Tucker Lowe def. Saket Jagannath/Vidhu Reddy, Blue Valley Southwest, 6-3, 6-2. Fifth place – Preston Heard/Jack Pringle def. Johnny Vogel/Baird Greenamyre, 8-3. Seventh place – Braxton Nicholson/Gabriel Shaffer def. Will Felski/Will Nash, Aquinas, 9-8 (3). Ninth place – Collin McGee/Zander Rice, Topeka West, def. Dayton Schneider/Owen Stewart, default. 11th place – Johnny Korfhage/Andrew Korfhage, Kapaun, def. Brady Harley/Alec King, St. James, 8-5. 

TEAM SCORES 

Maize South 42, Blue Valley Southwest 33, Carroll 32, Andover 19, Valley Center 19, St. James 17, Aquinas 13, Andover Central 12, Piper 11, Spring Hill 9, Seaman 7, Topeka West 6, Kapaun 4, Salina Central 2, Newton 1.