After easy wins against Scituate, Whitman-Hanson and Silver Lake last week, the boys’ tennis team looked to build on its impressive first day showing at Saturday’s South Sectional Individuals tournament.

In the Saturday morning singles session, Duxbury’s Brayden Minahan handled Nauset’s No. 1 player, Phil Stein, by the score of 6-0/7-5, while the Dragons’ No. 2 singles player, Peter Muncey, was never in trouble against Cape Cod Academy’s Will White in a 6-2/6-3 win. 

The bracket doubles finals saw Duxbury’s No. 1 duo of Alex Holopainen and Max Cote taking on the No. 1 team from Martha’s Vineyard, Winn Grimm and Justice Yenni. Duxbury took a hard-fought first set 6-4, but saw the MV duo strike back and take the second set rather easily with a 6-1 win. 

After falling behind 4-1 in the third set, Cote and Holopainen began their charge back and tied the score at 5-5 and 6-6. The tiebreaker was just as close, as the green team won the decisive point to take the third set, 7-6 (TB 7-5).

Duxbury’s unseeded second doubles team showed why its depth might be a deciding factor in the team tournament.

Toughing out a three-set win over No. 2-seeded Harwich put Duxbury’s No. 2 doubles tandem of Steve Day and Will Kingsbury in the final against the Cape Cod Academy’s No. 2 duo of John Hegarty and Oliver Rogers. 

After getting blitzed in a quick 6-1 first set loss, the power of the Day/Kingsbury duo began to connect with big overheads and cannon serves, allowing Duxbury to take the second set, 7-5. The third set was all Duxbury, as CCA had no answer for the bombs being thrown their way in the Dragons’ 6-2 win.

The afternoon singles session saw both Duxbury singles players take home the draw sheet with easy wins. Minahan was not threatened in his 6-2/6-3 win over CCA’s Tyler Kugler, while Muncey dispatched Martha’s Vineyard’s No. 1 player, Reid Yennie. 

The four bracket wins by Duxbury set up a big day at Sunday’s sectional quarterfinals. 

After having its way with CCA on Saturday, Duxbury found the going tougher on Sunday, as Minahan lost a tough two-set match to CCA’s Jon Zelman, 6-3/6-3, while Muncey lost to the state’s overall No. 1-seed, Aaron Resvin of Needham, 6-0/6-1.

In doubles, Cote and Holopainen lost to No. 2-seeded Casey/Blaze from Barnstable, 6-1/6-4, while Duxbury No. 2 tandem of Day and Kingsbury lost to the defending state champions, Wellesley, by the score of 6-2/6-1.

“Even with ‘promotosis’ our kids played great,” said Coach John Bunar. “We can take some consolation in the fact that we came out of this tournament with a renewed confidence that we are on the path to playing the best tennis we can.”

With a week left in the season, Duxbury hopes to make the most of it when it travels to Hingham on Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m. in hopes of winning a share of the Patriot League crown with the Harbormen.