Porterville crushes Golden Valley, moves into semis

The No. 1-seeded Porterville girls’ tennis team didn’t even need to return to the court for the doubles portion of their Division III quarterfinal against Golden Valley, Thursday.

They had already clinched the victory.

The Panthers used a singles sweep as a springboard to a 9-0 victory, Thursday and move onto the semifinals where No. 4 Hanford West awaits.

No. 1 singles player Shiloah Gibson’s singles scores look more like she was playing in Delano, as opposed to a playoff game, as she won 6-0, 6-0.

No. 2 Larissa Clem won 6-3, 6-1 with Alisia Scudder also golden-setting her opponent (6-0, 6-0).

The still-unbeaten Alecia Gonzales came through again at No. 4 singles, 6-0, 6-2, while Nicole Ervin and Nettie Roman got wins at the 5 and 6 slots.

In doubles, the Valley-qualifying team of Gibson and Scudder breezed, 6-0, 6-1, with nothing on the line.

Gonzales and Nancy Valdez did the same, winning 6-0, 6-2 while Clem and Quin Johnson notched a 6-3, 6-2 win.

The Panthers host fourth-seeded Hanford West at 1 p.m., Tuesday after the Huskies defeated No. 5 Yosemite 7-2.

The seeds held up on the other side of the Division III bracket with No. 2 Tehachapi downing No. 7 Ridgeview and No. 3 Clovis North getting past Madera South.

If the seeds hold form in the semifinals, the Panthers and Warriors will be set for a rematch of last season’s D-III semis where Tehachapi got the best of favored Porterville, 6-3, in 2008.