Marcus Kleckner found some opponents who kept the ball in play and made him hit shots but that only allowed the Burkburnett senior to find his rhythm.
Klecker, a state semifinalist last year but the No. 2 seed in the Region I-4A Tournament in Lubbock, won three straight-set decisions Wednesday to earn a spot in the I-4A final Thursday at the McLeod Tennis Center.
Kleckner will face No. 1 seed Lane Adkins of Abilene Wylie in the final. Adkins defeated Ryan James of Hirschi 6-3, 6-1 in the semifinals.
Kleckner had a 6-0, 6-1 win to begin his day but was tested some in the quarterfinals in a 6-2, 6-2 win over Angel Alaniz of Pecos. And then Burkburnett coach Shane Newman felt Harrison Hawkins of Glen Rose "picked up his level and really played" against Kleckner in a 6-4, 6-2 semifinal.
"Marcus played well; he had to battle in certain spots to win those sets and keep it from being tougher," Newman added.
Vernon's Sarah Castleberry and BT White will also play for a I-4A championship in mixed doubles. The Lions earned the No. 2 seed and then backed it up with two lopsided wins (6-0, 6-1 and 6-1, 6-1) before a tough-as-nails semifinal with Heritage. But Castleberry and White were ready and earned a 7-5, 6-4 victory. They'll face No. 1 seed Kaitlyn Hathorn and Davyn Williford in the final.
Burkburnett's girls doubles team of Kaylee Kahn and Jasmine Shrubs didn't get a seed at the meeting so they beat one, the No. 4 team from Fort Stockton, in a three-hour marathon quarterfinal.
The Bulldogs' duo had to stay on court till nearly 10 p.m. before falling to Wylie's Elle Schroeder and Andrea McMillan 6-1, 6-1 in the semifinals. Burk will face Seminole in the third-place match.
Other area tennis players to win at least once at regionals were Libby Tseng of Iowa Park; Ethan Curtis/Rahul Bhakta of Vernon; and Joseph Mayfield-Savana Mayfield, of Hirschi.
REGION II-2A
Archer City tennis playing for two titles Thursday
McKINNEY - Kade McAdams of Seymour and Davis Mays of Archer City will face off Thursday in the Region II-2A boys singles championship.
They took different paths to the final. McAdams had a first-round bye and then won three of four sets by 6-0 scores (the other being 6-2) in quarterfinal and semifinal routs.
Mays got in more court time but persevered to make the final. First he beat Cade Clement of Era 6-4, 6-3 and then rallied past Billy Webb of Wolfe City 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Zac Sprayberry of Bells had the other first-round bye and then a 6-2, 6-2 quarterfinal. It looked like playing just 16 games to Mays' 47 in the first two rounds were going to make a difference early in the semifinal and Sprayberry took the first, 6-4. But Mays rallied to take the final two sets 6-2 and 6-2 to earn the final.
Breanna Howard of Archer City is in the girls singles final after three wins, losing just eight games in the process. She'll face Zoe Spraybery of Bells, who knocked off Seymour's Kamryn Hrncirik 6-3, 6-1 in the semifinals. Hrncirik will play for third and hope a play-back chance materializes.
Kolbi Cox and Jacob Wilhelm of Archer City will play for third in boys doubles against Big Sandy.