TROY — Troy boys tennis coach Mark Goldner knows how well his second seeded team of Noah George and Genki Masunaga played in finishing second in the Troy D-I sectional tennis tournament.

And how close they were to upsetting top seeds Aaron and Cameron Davis of Tippecanoe in the title match.

But, he also knows it was a missed opportunity.

Troy, who had defeated Greenville 6-2, 6-2 in the semifinals, won the first set with Tipp 6-4, dropped the second set 6-1 and was on serve in the third set up 5-4.

But, that final game never came and as Tipp took the next three games to win 7-5.

“We missed so many easy chances at 5-4,” Goldner said. “You have to take advantage of those opportunities. If we do that same thing at district next week, we will end up with about 10 number 3’s on our chest.”

George, who like Masunaga, is a senior, agreed.

“I know we are going to district and that is good,” George said. “But, it is just tough to have your final match on the Troy High School tennis courts end this way. I take all the blame. I feel like Genki (Masunaga) played a great match. I wanted this so bad for Genki (who has battled injuries this season), with everything he has been though.”

But, there is no one George would have rather played than two good friends.

“I was really happy we were playing them,” he said. “Of course, I would have rather played Troy (Matt Bess and Henry Johnston), but I was happy to be playing Tipp. We will be like one team next week at district, rooting for each other.”

Troy’s unseeded doubles team of Matt Bess and Henry Johnston also advanced to district after finishing fourth.

After losing to the Davis brothers 6-2, 7-5; they lost to Greenville 7-5, 7-6 (5).

“Those guys really wanted to play well against Tipp and they did,” Goldner said. “They were really up for that match. Nothing against Greenville, but I thought we would come out really flat in that match. We did and we never recovered.”

D-II Doubles

Milton-Union sophomores Cooper Brown and Tyler Kress continued to exceed expectations learn to play with each other in the D-II doubles Saturday.

While they were unseeded, they had the top seeds from Yellow Springs on the ropes and knocked off the second seed from Urbana in the third place match.

Milton lost to Yellow Springs 6-3, 6-4 before defeating Urbana 7-6 (3), 6-3.

“These guys have had a lot of success in other sports at a young age,” Milton-Union coach Kevin Brackman said. “They are learning to play with each other in tennis and I think that will roll over to Thursday at the district tournament. Tennis is different than other sports, there is a mental side to it.”

Kress and Brown played first and second singles before being paired up for the tournament.

They gave Yellow Springs all they wanted, leading 3-1 both sets.

“In the first set, we were up 3-1 and serving,” Brackman said. “In the second set, we were up 3-1 and had a break point on their serve. You have to give Yellow Springs credit for battling back the way they did.”

Milton bounced back quickly with an upset of Urbana.

“That was a really good Urbana team,” Brackman said. “We played really well. These two have done a lot of winning in other sports. I just think what they did today will roll over next week at districts.”

The district tournament begins Thursday at the Lindner Family Tennis Center, near Kings Island.