Boys’ tennis: Dolphins benefit from Brentwood’s break

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All things being equal, Wednesday’s intersectional match between Palisades and Brentwood would’ve been fun to watch. Alas, all things were not equal.

Brentwood is on spring break this week and thus was missing six of its top seven players -- Walker Kehrer, Chris Lord, Jackson Isaacs, Casey Grindon, Andrew Colbert and Kevin Bral. Without them, the Eagles were no match for one of the best teams in the City Section.

‘It’s a shame we didn’t have our regular lineup because Palisades is very good and we would’ve given them some competition,’ Brentwood Coach Lee Herzog said, almost apologetically. ‘Half of our kids are off playing [junior] tournaments.’

In fact, Brentwood brought only eight players to the court and had to forfeit three sets at No. 3 singles. Not that it mattered. The Dolphins opened a 11-1 lead, winning all of their sets handily, before subbing out starters in the last rotation of round robin.

‘Hopefully, this will help our seeding for the playoffs,’ Palisades Coach Bud Kling said. ‘Brentwood obviously isn’t at full strength today but it’s still a quality win against a highly-regarded opponent.’

Palisades (11-2) has lost to only Southern Section powerhouses Mira Costa and Beverly Hills. Brentwood, meanwhile, fell to 4-5, a deceiving mark when you consider the Eagles’ previous losses were to Olympic League rival Crossroads (the defending Division III champion), San Marino (the defending Division II champion), Peninsula (ranked No. 5 in Division I) and Harvard-Westlake (No. 2 in Division I).

-- Steve Galluzzo

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