Cinderella nearly went all the way with its ticket to the big dance. In the end, though, the slipper -- and the prince -- belonged to someone else. No. 3 seed Tehachapi High School won four of six singles matches to power past top-seeded Hanford West 7-2 on a calm Thursday afternoon to claim the Central Section Division III tennis championship, with only one match going to a tiebreaker.

Still, Hanford West coach Marc Herron could put a happy face on things, considering the Huskies were 0-22 last season.

"I'm very proud of them. This is one of the best teams I've ever coached," he said. "None of the girls quit. We have nothing to hang our heads about."

Tehachapi, with six seniors in the lineup, was simply too much for the Huskies on this day.

The Warriors, who went 8-2 in South Sequoia League play, the only losses coming to Bakersfield Christian, swept the middle four of the six singles matches played, all in straight sets.

Tehachapi's Kinitja Thacker beat Jessica Stein 6-0, 6-0; Hanna Trott beat Gabi Pascual 6-1, 6-1; Chelsea Maduena beat Miranda Banuelos 6-1,6-2; and Nicki Miller downed Veronica Vasquez 6-3, 6-2.

Hanford West won the top and bottom spots on the ladder, with Maryann Kong defeating Abby Gray 6-3, 6-4; and Melanie Reynolds beating Bailey Hutchinson 6-4, 6-1.

This put the Huskies in the position of needing to sweep all three doubles matches to win the title, but all went the Warriors' way as well.

Gray and Trott defeated Kong and Vanessa Hernandez 6-2, 6-1; Madena and Desiree Ortiz defeated Reynolds and Miranda Banuelos 6-2, 6-2; and Melody Henderson and Katy Burford beat Pascual and Stephanie Garica 6-1, 1-6, 10-4.

"We had a lot of depth we could rely on," said Tehachapi coach Amy Lewis. "Each year, we've become a better team. By far, this was best team I've had."

The sports editor can be reached at 583-2430.

(Nov. 7, 2008)