Make or break for area teams

This coming week is make or break in high school tennis. And the odds are that all but possibly Pinewood Prep will be broken.

Berkeley and Summerville have had excellent seasons, each winning 15 matches and losing only five matches between them. But defending Class AAAA state champion West Florence likely stands in the path of both teams.

If Summerville gets by a strong Spring Valley team at home Tuesday, the Green Wave would face the winner of the Berkeley at West Florence match in the Lower State final on Thursday.

A victory over Spring Valley would be an outstanding accomplishment for coach Bryant McKee's Summerville team since it would thrust the Green Wave into new territory — the Lower State final.

The situation is similar in AA-A where a home victory over the Governor's School on Monday would earn Bishop England a shot at the winner of Monday's Academic Magnet at Waccamaw match. The Bishops suffered a 6-1 blitzing by Waccamaw in their last match of the regular season, and their only other loss came to Academic Magnet when first-year coach Skip ReVille played his second team.

Of course, Pinewood Prep has the best chance for a state title. But Hilton Head Prep is a heavy favorite to win the top two singles positions in Tuesday's SCISA Class AAA state final. The Panthers' Josh Klingenberg and Scott Hayes are solid players, but they may have a difficult time matching up with talented Hilton Head sophomores Nicky Kunz and Mo Hookaylo.

The key to the entire match likely will come down to the Nos. 3 and 4 singles positions where freshmen Jacob Cumbie and JT Elliget probably will need a split with Hilton Head's Hunter Mitchell and Joey Ryan. Mitchell could have been playing for Porter-Gaud, but moved to Hilton Head Island to train at the Smith-Stearns Academy.

Kunz, Hookaylo, Mitchell and Ryan accounted for all six Hilton Head points in the Dolphins' 6-3 semifinal win over Porter-Gaud as they took the first four singles and top two doubles positions.

Pinewood Prep coach Heinz Maurer said he's looking for another miracle, referring to last May's state final in which Hilton Head Prep won the first four matches and was up a set in the decisive No. 1 doubles match between Jeremiah Dye/Klingenberg and Kunz/Hookaylo, but ended up suffering a 5-4 loss to the Panthers. Maurer would be ecstatic to go into doubles with a 3-3 split in singles.

SCISA all-region team

Three Pinewood Prep players and three from Porter-Gaud make up this year's SCISA Region 1-AAAA all-region boys' team. Sophomore Klingenberg, junior Ladson Fishburne and sixth-grader Adam Elliget represent Pinewood Prep, while senior Richard Pearce, freshman Charlie Baker and sophomore Conner Hoy made the team from Porter-Gaud.

Four young stars

Are there four better young players in the state in high school tennis than sixth-graders Austin Heinz of Palmetto Christian and Adam Elliget, and seventh-graders Zac Dye of Berkeley and Payne Hoy of Porter-Gaud?

Kinard honored

Former Bishop England standout Elissa Kinard hasn't taken long to make her coaching ability known at the University of Albany (N.Y.). In just her second season at Albany, she has been named America East Conference women's coach of the year. She took over an Albany program last year that had only five players, and the team had even less wins — four — in 2007. But Kinard recruited well enough to improve Albany's record to 18-7 this spring. Albany had never won more than 11 matches in one season.

Reach James Beck at jdbeck@postandcourier.com.