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Chisago Lakes and North Branch’s tennis seasons came to an end last week after the Gillach sisters were the last remaining competitors to be eliminated.

In the team competition, North Branch, seeded 13th, was knocked out in the first round by Grand Rapids, who was the fourth seed, 5-2. The Wildcats would also be eliminated by the Thunderhawks in the second round, as fifth seeded Chisago Lakes lost 6-1 to Rapids after beating Andover 6-1 in the opening round.

Grand Rapids would eventually fall to section champion Elk River in the semifinals.

In the singles brackets, both Chisago Lakes and North Branch competitors bowed out fairly quick. North Branch was in the 7AA North bracket, and they featured sixth-seeded Sophie Smith and 16th seeded Becca Perales. Perales fell in the first round to the top seed of Duluth East, but Smith earned a win in her first match, over 11th-seeded Amanda Hanowski of Forest Lake. Smith won 6-3, 6-3. She eventually fell to Duluth East’s Lauren Aturaliya in the second round.

For Chisago Lakes’ singles, 12th seeded Malia McKinnon fell in the first round to fifth-seeded Andrea Pratt of Blaine, and Alyssa Vanormun had a tough draw, facing the second seed from St. Francis and losing 6-0, 6-1.

In doubles, 13th seeded Rachel Wurdemann and Chloe Moline of North Branch nearly pulled off the big upset, pushing the fourth seeded team from Hermantown to three sets before falling. Amanda Scarborough and Hollo Ohnsorg of NB lost in their first round.

For CL, Alice Johnson and Jill Erickson lost in their first set, but the sister duo of senior Hannah Gillach and Greta Gillach team up to make a deep run. They beat a pair of Bluejackets from Cambridge-Isanti in the first round before beating the sixth seed from Princeton in the second round.

That matched them up with second-seeded Deanna Dokken and Paige Anderson from Elk River. The pair of Elks won 6-3, 6-1, but it was a successful run for the Gillach sisters.

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