Melton, Shepard medal in West Central

Josh Melton made the most of his only season of high school tennis.

The senior was one of two Smith-Cotton players to  achieve all-conference honors Friday at the West Central boys tennis tournament in Warrensburg.

Melton won the No. 6 singles bracket, beating Taylor Burns, of St. Pius X, 8-6 in the title match.

S-C coach Kaley Hobbs was not surprised by Melton’s success.

“Early on, I realized he has a drive to win,” Hobbs said.

Hobbs said that Melton’s aggressiveness and tenacity helped him excel Friday as he has all season.

Melton, who received a first-round bye, beat A.J. Sutton, of Harrisonville, 8-4 in the semifinals.

Chris Shepard placed second in No. 2 singles. Jared Connell, the top-seeded player in that bracket from St. Pius X, beat second-ranked Shepard 8-4 in the final.

“They were pretty evenly matched,” Hobbs said. “Chris made some errors. ... Sometimes you just don’t get the game.”

Shepard, who received a first-round bye, beat Jake Farrell, of O’Hara, 8-3 in the semifinals.

Players who reached the championship match of their brackets received all-conference honors.

Two singles players and two doubles teams from S-C reached the semifinals.

“I was very pleased with the team overall throughout the season,” Hobbs said. “I think that was reflected today. We’re making progress and doing our best. It’s encouraging for next year.”

Only two of their top six players are seniors.

Matt Roehrs won his first-round match in No. 1 singles. He beat Cory Palmer, of O’Hara, 8-5 before losing to eventual champion Jake Long, of Harrisonville, 8-5.

Anthony Tsao reached the semifinals in No. 3 singles. He beat Keith Steirwalt, of Warrensburg, 8-5 and lost in a tiebreaker to Anthony Walker, of O’Hara, 9-8 (7-1).

In doubles, Shepard-Roehrs beat Thomas Goalson and Henry Shull, of Warrensburg, 9-7, but lost 8-6 to Long and Eric Boyd, of Harrisonville, in the semifinals.

Melton and Adam Tilley made the semifinals in No. 3 doubles. They beat Cord Leuhrman and John O’Connell, of Warrensburg, 8-1 in the first round.

Eventual champion Damon Arredondo and Cody Livingston, of St. Pius X, beat the S-C pair 8-0 in the semifinals.

In No. 2 doubles, Tsao and Ryan Bell lost 8-6 to Warrensburg’s Ahmed Ghozzi and Steirwalt in the first round.

Bell and Dustin Bergman lost their first-round matches in singles.

Bell lost 8-4 to Shull in No. 4 singles. Bergman lost 8-1 to Christoph Knibbe, of Harrisonville, in the first round in No. 5 singles.