By STEVE MAZZONE

Sports writer

Jason Agonia wouldn’t mind finishing his high school career at Cumberland with a team championship. The talented senior came to the school a year after the Clippers won their last state crown and was on the 2007 squad that lost to Toll Gate in the finals.

By STEVE MAZZONE
Sports writer
Not surprisingly, Agonia’s dream is shared by the rest of his teammates.
As a team, Lincoln would like to put an end to a 21-year-old drought from its last and only state title back in 1987.
On May 23, the date of this year’s Division II finals, the chances look favorable that one of these teams will be going home happy.
With one week left in the regular season, Lincoln and Cumberland are perched atop the league standings in II-North with the best records in the division. The Lions made that happen on Thursday, defeating the then-unbeaten Clippers, 4-3. After losing to Cumberland in the first match of the spring campaign, Lincoln has won 12 straight and is now 12-1. The Clippers dropped to 13-1.
The strength of Cumberland this season has been its doubles teams, who have lost just twice in 42 matches. But the Clippers haven’t been doing too badly with their singles, too. During its splendid season, head coach John Jasionowski’s squad has posted four shutouts and eight matches where it has scored at least six points.
“It’s been paying off this year. We have been playing well together,” said Agonia, who, along with junior Patrick Murray, plays at No. 2 doubles. “All the singles are playing well. All the doubles are playing well. This team is just great this year. We have just two seniors, so next year we’ll be even stronger.”
“We got to the finals last year and now that we beat Toll Gate this year (a 5-2 win on April 25) we are working our way to get there again.”
“We are really confident for the rest of the season,” Murray added. “We know we only have a couple of matches left and we’re pretty sure we’re going to get a bye. We know we’ll probably see Lincoln again.”
While the Clippers have been relying strongly on their doubles, Lincoln’s been a team that has been led by its play at singles. After a 3-0 deficit
See TENNIS — Page B2
Continued from Page B1
going into the singles on Thursday, the Lions roared back to sweep the remaining matches – a comeback that didn’t surprise Jasionowski or Lincoln coach Peter Prendergast. This season, Lincoln has recorded seven shutouts and nine games of six or more points.
In one of the more impressive matches of the day, Inman Puthawala beat the Clippers’ Eric Schultheis in three sets, roaring back after an 0-6 loss in the middle set with a strong 6-3 victory.
“We got some guys that have heart,” said Prendergast. “Someone like Inman lost 0-6 and to come back and win 6-3, that’s pretty amazing for him.”
Other singles players such as C.J. Cournoyer (No. 1), Tom McKenty (No. 2) and Eric Tirrell (No. 4) have also been getting it done for the Lions.
Tirrell, a junior, overcame a 3-6 setback in the first set to beat Cumberland’s Dan Spader with scores of 6-1, 6-1, to remain undefeated for the season. It’s been similar for the rest of his teammates.
“C.J. Cournoyer, he lost his first match (of the season), but he’s been undefeated since then,” Prendergast pointed out. “He’s grown up a lot. He’s playing really smart.”
“Tom (Mckenty), he was hurt several matches ago because of his back, but he’s back on track,” he added. “He’s playing very well.”
On paper, Westerly (9-3) and defending champion Toll Gate (8-3), the top two teams in D-II South, appear to be the biggest challenges for Lincoln and Cumberland en route to a possible rematch in the finals.
But it’s the playoffs, and strange things often can happen with lower seeds surprising the upper-tier of teams.
“It’s nothing yet,” assured Puthawala. “We still got a long way to the playoffs
As to whom will get the top seed in the upcoming tournament, that won’t be determined until next week when schools finish out their schedules. If the expected happens, and the Clippers and Lions win their remaining matches, the top seed will be awarded based on the numbers of sets won.
In other local action, defending champion Tolman is having another splendid season. The Tigers are in first place in Division III-North with a 10-1 mark. St. Raphael Academy is second at 8-3 and East Providence holds third at 7-4. Portsmouth owns the best record in the division with a perfect 10-0 mark in III-South.
The top teams in Division IV are Tiverton and West Warwick, tied in first at 10-1 in the South. Woonsocket, which fell to North Providence in last year’s state finals, is 6-5 in III-North, good for second in its division.