DOMINATION

Corbin has been blessed with talent on the tennis court for decades. That tradition continued when Lance Freeman, Lee Crawford, Nick Huff and Krishna Patil entered middle school. They have worked their way through the program and are seniors this year at CHS.

Corbin Coach Curt Hart challenged the seniors and the rest of his Redhounds with a brutal high school schedule this season and they have come through with high marks. They have a combined record of 65-22, five regional titles and are favored to head back to the Kentucky High School Tennis Tournament, May 21-23.

Hart recently talked about his four seniors.

“I heard one boy say they are best friends. They are best friends,” said Hart. “They play together, they travel together and support one another. I do call us a tennis family.

“These kids started at a very young age,” said Hart. “Lance has been with me since he was in the sixth grade and I remember giving Lee his first lesson.”

“When I look at these seniors I remember their mentors. Krishna’s father has been his mentor, Lance’s dad has hit with him for hours, Lee’s dad hit with him and the main thing they enjoy the game.

“They will leave a legacy,” said Hart. “All they have known is regional titles, they don’t know anything else. They are looking for region first but expect to win matches at state.”

“Lance has been such a hard worker since the sixth grade,” said Hart. “He is just a team player, always doing what I ask of him. He is a good singles player, a good doubles player.”

“He has been a leader by example, a leader by his hard work in the off-season by playing in USTA tournaments. If you want to be a top level tennis player you can’t just play three months like other sports, you have to play in the summer and keep hitting year around,” said Hart.

“That has been the difference in our 90s and turn of century team and the 80s teams,” said Hart. “We didn’t have these indoor facilities that we have now.”

    “Lance is a three-time champion in singles,” Hart said. “We have never had a boy to win four singles titles which Lance may have the opportunity to do. Katie Frazier did it with the girls.”

“Lance is only going to improve,” said Hart. “When he goes to the next level, they will be his level and better and when he plays division one when he comes back to Corbin I don’t know how many levels he will be improved.”

“He will have an outstanding background where he could go into coaching tennis or teaching tennis,” said Hart. “He may not choose tennis as a career but he will have a life-long sport for him but I expect him to play four years at Western and be a contributor for them.”

Huff has a combined 18-7 record as a senior. “Nick has been my most pleasant surprise because years ago at Hilton Head he went to their junior clinics as a third or fourth grader. Then when he came out for tennis as a sophomore I hardly didn’t recognize him where he had grown,” said Hart.

“In one year he went from my number 14 player to my number six player just because of his fundamentals at a young age,” said Hart. “He has been a treat. He has been solid in singles, has been solid in doubles.”

Crawford is a defending doubles’ champion with Brody Freeman. He comes in the tournament with a 17-7 combined record (8-3 in singles, 9-4 in doubles). “Lee is one of our quickest players, unbelievably quick,” Hart said. “That comes from his hard work on the basketball court.

“Lee is one of my best. He is always encouraging in doubles, when his teammate is down he always picks them up,” said Hart. “That is one of his strengths as a player. He is very intense with a killer instinct, like all of these boys, they want to win every point.”

“It doesn’t matter if Lee is up five points or down five points he always plays hard and intense,” said Hart.

“To be a seasonable player, he is outstanding,” added Hart.

Patil won his only singles match and is 12-3 in doubles. “If I had to describe Krishna it would be a ‘team player’, because he hasn’t always started. He didn’t get to play in our region last year because we had such a strong team. He would have started for any other team in our region.”

“He didn’t get down on himself and worked extremely hard. He was my tennis partner last summer,” Hart said. “He is the only left-hander on the varsity. He has a wicked serve and is the only player with a traditional backhand. He loves the game and knows his strengths and weaknesses.”

“Being a senior and playing in his first region, he is going to surprise a lot of people,” said Hart. “Actually, he could play at the small-college level.”

The four talked briefly about the program and what it meant to them. “It’s crazy to know that I played here for seven years on the varsity as a top six player,” said Freeman. “I want to thank coach Hart for believing in me when I was a 13-year old, little nothing out there playing with a junior (Jason Payne) when I was in the sixth grade. I owe everything to him for believing in me and my father for pushing me when I didn’t want to go out there and play because you know how kids are they don’t want to be pushed but my dad kept believing in me and pushing me to be my best.”

“I feel really good about my tennis game right now and I am thankful that God’s given me the ability to even play tennis because a lot of kids just don’t have the means to do it and I am thankful that I have been able to grow up and play. It’s a sport that you can play your entire life. My grandpa is 76 years old and he still plays, so that’s something I can look forward to,” said Freeman.

Patil said, “It has taught me a lot of responsibility and I have had a lot of fun with my friends.

“I have enjoyed spending time with them and have a good time,” he added. “I’ve loved competing against the different teams and the competition.”

“I want to do well in the region and go as far as I can before the season comes to an end,” said Patil.

Huff said, “It has been great playing on a region championship team that has won eight titles in a row. Being able to hang out with all of my friends and having fun playing tennis.

“I played when I was little then quit for a while but decided to get back because all my friends were playing when I was a sophomore,” said Huff. “I was a doubles runner-up my first year back and that was pretty special.”

Crawford excelled in both basketball and tennis at Corbin and couldn’t really choose between the two. “I love them both, they both are enjoyable. I love my teammates on both sides.”

“I like the fact that tennis is more laid back than basketball, it is a lot of fun and I have really enjoyed it all these years I have been playing,” Crawford said.

“I want to go out with another regional championship and see how far I can go at state,” Crawford said.

The road comes to an end for the four Corbin seniors. The region begins this week at Corbin High School with the state tournament coming in two weeks.