Lane Steward and Pierson Wheeler played tennis doubles together in sixth grade at Brownstown Middle School.

Beginning in seventh grade, they changed to singles and played singles up through their junior season at Brownstown Central.

Prior to this season, Braves coach Donnie Thomas approached Steward and Wheeler and asked them if they would like to play doubles together because he felt they would have an excellent chance to advance in the state tournament series.

Steward and Wheeler played No. 1 doubles together and you can say the change has worked to perfection.

When Wheeler and Steward defeated Seymour’s Shun Takeuchi and Joel Stevens 6-0, 6-2 on Friday it improved their record to 18-0 together. Wheeler missed a couple matches during the season, and Steward played with another opponent and lost one match.

Steward and Wheeler will find out today who their next opponents will be and when and where they will play.

Coach Thomas spoke about the duo’s performance this season.

“They are an unorthodox team for two singles players going there and playing doubles,” Thomas said. “At the baseline they are really good. They just get the ball back and irritate the other people lobbing them back and when they get aggressive, they put the ball away.

“Nobody’s played a team like that before,” he added. “Lane had one loss without Pierson being there or they would probably be 20-0.”

Thomas reflected on the performance of the two in the sectional.

“They played really well in the sectional,” Thomas said. “Southwestern (Hanover) is the only one that has beaten them in that position and that was when Pierson was not there, but they got a rematch with them in the (Scottsburg) tournament and beat them. That says a lot there, too.”

Wheeler spoke on the reason him and Steward have had so much success.

“Because I’ve got a great teammate,” Wheeler said. “We are great teammates; we work out all the struggles that come at us. We win and lose as a team. We have great communication and know how each other plays. I like doubles better because I’ve got a great teammate, and we work good together and we enjoy doubles better. It’s more fun.”

Steward enjoys using the entire court in doubles, compared to singles.

“I like doubles more because you can play the whole court, and when you have a good teammate, it makes it a lot easier to play the game, and winning makes it a lot easier,” Steward said. “I play at the net and he’s at the back, at the baseline. I like doubles more. I like the competition. I don’t think it’s very fun playing teams that aren’t as good as us when we just run right through them. It’s a lot more fun playing teams that are good competition. It gives us something to look forward to.”

Steward said he feels like his backhand is the strongest part of his game.

“I can get the backhand down the line and all that stuff,” he said.

His partner prefers the forehand.

“I would say my forehand is better than my backhand,” Wheeler said. “I’m just looking forward to keep playing our tennis and work as a team to get more wins and go further in the tournament.”

Steward spoke about the aspirations of the duo.

“Hopefully to go to state and win it all,” he said. “It’s been a fun season. We played doubles in sixth grade, and we are finishing off with doubles.”