By Thomas Sellers Jr.
MURFREESBORO – Brighton Cardinal Head Tennis Coach Kim Greer took a moment to enjoy a little personal history. During last Thursday morning’s Class 3A Boys Doubles contest at Old Fort Park in Murfreesboro, Greer watched his newcomer Braden Twisdale and his longtime ace Blake Armour change sides. As Armour and Twisdale made the transition against opponents Marlon Ngo and Alek Krikovich of Cookeville, Greer said ‘That’s my first time winning a set at State.’ When Twisdale and Armour dominated the second set to win 6-3, Greer knew his duo was on the verge of making more history – winning the match. In the third set the Cardinals were ahead. But Ngo and Krikovich rallied to win the third and decisive set 6-4 to take the Quarterfinal match up 6-1, 3-6 and 6-4. The thriller at State was just a part of Armour and Twisdale successful and challenging 2017 campaign. “They have been pretty good,” Greer said. “They’ve had some good competition. I’ve scheduled really tough schedule this year. We’ve played Hendersonville in a tournament against these boys already. It was a very competitive match. So my boys were ready. “I’ve scheduled Collierville, White Station, Houston High School,” he added. “So they have played the best. They beat Houston. They lost to White State and barely lost to Collierville.” The combination of Armour and Twisdale was a one-year project with each match building cohesion. “I have Blake Armour for four years,” Greer noted. “He’s like a coach out there. He’s coaching out there all the time with the other players. He’s help bring Braden along throughout the entire year with consistent coaching. “For a young man not to have a tennis racket in his hand until early January,” he continued, “and now to be at the State championship shows how incredible of an athlete Braden is.” Armour is a talented athlete as well as an All-Region linebacker for the Brighton Football team. During his four-year tennis career he qualified for State each season only missing his junior year because of Boys’ State. Greer said Armour will be missed for his major contributions to the program to the little things like his kick-serve on his second attempts.
“He’s probably the best tennis player we’ve ever had overall,” Greer concluded. “We’ve had Kevin Johnson. He was good and he made it State. Kyle Hillary was good and he made it to State just to name a few. But he’s right up there with those guys.”
