Two of the best teams in District 8 faced off in the Hoosier Hills Conference title match on Thursday night at Seymour High School, as the Floyd Central Highlanders battled the Owls for the HHC crown.

In the latest poll, Floyd was ranked the 8th best team in Indiana. Seymour came into the match with a 16-2 record, defeating New Albany and Jennings County to get to the championship game.

After some double’s battles, including the second doubles match that lasted a few hours, Floyd ended up winning the match 5-0. Xavier DuBois and Braylon Busby fought with Conner Himmel and Evan Loftus, eventually losing 6-3, 7-6, with a 7-3 tiebreaker. Seymour No. 1 Parker Thompson had to pull out of his match after an injury in the first game.

Owls Head Coach PJ Stein spoke on the outcome afterwards.

“We knew they were a really good team coming in,” Stein said. “We knew if we put together our best effort that we would have a chance to compete. It was of a bad combination of a lot of things tonight.”

The Owls will look to regroup before sectionals will take place next week.

“Floyd is a quality opponent, and they played well tonight, and we didn’t play our best,” Stein said. We will look to rebound next week with the sectional coming up.”

Seymour will host the opening round of postseason once again as Bedford North Lawrence, Brownstown Central, Trinity Lutheran, and Jennings County will all try to stop the Owls from a sectional three-peat.

The regular season ends for the Owls, who compiled a 16-3 record, only losing to 5th ranked Columbus North, 8th ranked Floyd Central and their opening meeting of the season against Waldron.

Coach Stein spoke on his first season as varsity team coach.

“It’s been great, I knew we had a great group coming into this season,” Stein said. “Everything has clicked, good kids, good families, and a good dynamic. Plus, these kids work really hard.”

That work ethic has allowed a smooth transition into Stein’s first season. It wasn’t too hard for the coach according to himself.

“It has made it easy on me when you have a group that works hard and the results have shown that,” he said.

Draws for the sectional will take place on Monday night. The Seymour coach spoke on some keys for the team to have a successful postseason.

“We have to flush tonight out of our minds entirely,” Stein said. “We have played good tennis all season, tonight just wasn’t our best effort. If we can get back to playing the way we were playing, we will be in good shape.”

Pairings and the schedule for the 2024 IHSAA Boys’ Tennis Sectional will be posted when they are available and will be televised on the IHSAA Network at www.ihsaa.org

Floyd Central 5, Seymour 0

No. 1 singles: Riley Doddridge (FC), def. Parker Thompson (S), retired.

No. 2 singles: Preston Bickel (FC), def. Carter Stein (S), 6-2, 6-1.

No. 3 singles: Joseph Howell (FC), def. Dane Thompson (S), 6-0, 6-0.

No. 1 doubles: Alex Eichenberger-Michael Fogle (FC), def. Shun Takeuchi-Joel Stevens (S), 6-1, 6-2.

No. 2 doubles: Conner Himmell-Evan Loftus (FC), def. Braylon Busby-Xavier DuBois (S), 6-3, 7-6 (7-3 tiebreaker)