Newport Harbor’s Abrams Falls Short by a Shot : Tennis: Sophomore blows two break-point opportunities and loses, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, to Santa Barbara’s Jackmon.

The boys’ interscholastic singles final between Newport Harbor sophomore Geoff Abrams and Santa Barbara senior Nathan Jackmon was played Saturday afternoon on a back court at Libbey Park. But given the intensity and the level of play, it would have been more appropriate to stage the match this afternoon on the park’s center court, the site and time of the Pac-10 men’s final.

One spectacular shot after another brought loud cheers from the overflow crowd. Ultimately, Jackmon had one more spectacular shot than Abrams as he won, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

“You couldn’t afford to miss any shots,” Jackmon said. “I just missed a few less than he did.”

One shot that appeared as though Jackmon would miss turned into the shot of the match, and turned momentum in his favor.

With the third-set score tied at four games, Abrams appeared ready to bring the game score to deuce when he caught a lucky break and ticked the top of the net with a passing shot. Off balance and falling down, Jackmon angled a cross-court backhand drop shot that fell delicately over the net and inside the line. Abrams, standing near the baseline, could only shake his head in amazement.

“He’s not going to be able to do that all the time,” Abrams said. “That’s a one-out-of-five or one-out-of-seven shot.”

Jackmon even seemed to amaze himself.

“I pulled that out of somewhere,” he said, smiling.

That point brought the partisan crowd to its feet and it appeared to carry Jackmon through the final game. He broke Abrams’ service by hitting several bullet returns past a charging Abrams. The match ended uneventfully, as Abrams hit an easy backhand volley into the net.

Afterward, Abrams appeared pleased with his performance but a little upset with Jackmon.

“He said a few snide remarks that got me (angry) in the first set, but that got me going a little after I lost the first set,” Abrams said.

Abrams had a big chance to win the first set, but blew two break-point opportunities with a 4-3 lead. Said Jackmon: “That totally changed the match.”

From there, it was simply a case of who could reach the net first.

“I knew he’d come to the net, so I was going to try to come in before him,” Jackmon said.

Earlier in the day, Jackmon beat Sunny Hills sophomore Kevin Kim to the net with a bit more ease. He pounced on Kim early and never let up, winning, 6-2, 6-4.

“He’s ranked No. 1 in the country in the 16s and I knew he’d come in with a lot of confidence,” Jackmon said. “I didn’t want to let him get started.”

Despite the fact that he was facing two sophomores who were more highly publicized and had higher rankings, Jackmon said he had nothing to prove.

“Winning or losing has nothing to do with it,” said Jackmon, who has yet to choose a college. “As long as you improve yourself, that’s what matters. Two years from now, it won’t matter whether you won this or not, as long as you compete well.”

Sunny Hills sophomore Joseph Gilbert performed well in the boys’ 16 division and fared better than his teammate, Kim. He defeated Dylan Mann of Woodland Hills Taft, 7-5, 6-2, despite playing with a sore back.

“My back started hurting me in the second set,” Gilbert said. “My tosses were low.”

But Gilbert, who lost to Abrams in last year’s Ojai boys’ 16 final, made up for his inconsistent serves by breaking Mann’s service five times.

“I got a groove on his serve,” Gilbert said. “It’s a big, flat serve and I started grooving on it.”

Newport Beach’s Taylor Dent, son of former Australian Open champion Phil Dent, won a tight match in the boys’ 14 final over Jess Melton of Los Angeles, 6-7 (7-9), 6-2, 6-3. Dent blew three set points in the first-set tiebreaker, but rallied back on the strength of his baseline play.

In the girls’ 16 doubles finals, Megan Wachtler and Gina Pelazini from Newport Beach defeated Emily Barker and Alissa Scott from Newport Beach, 7-6, 6-3. In the girls’ 18 doubles final, El Modena’s Brandi Freudenberg and Palos Verdes Peninsula’s Amanda Augustus were beaten by Peninsula’s Nicole London and Amber Basica, 7-5, 6-1.