Harvard-Westlake Wilts in the Final : Tennis: Wolverines collapse in late Division II matches after forging hopes of an upset against top-seeded Palm Desert.

Unseasonably warm weather made for unpleasant playing conditions at the Racquet Centre on Wednesday, but what really wilted Harvard-Westlake High in its bid for a Southern Section boys’ tennis championship was the pressure applied by an opponent from the arid east.

Palm Desert, a colorful team which apparently knows as much about applying heat as it does withstanding it, won eight of the final 10 sets to defeat Harvard, 12-6, and capture the Division II title.

The Aztecs were red-hot all season, finishing 25-0. Harvard, a surprise finalist, ended up 22-3.

In fact, Palm Desert has been a hotbed for high school tennis throughout the school year.

Last fall, the Aztec girls’ team captured the Division IV championship. Last week, No. 1 singles player Eni Ghidirimic and doubles players Dann Battistone and Andy Scorteanu won championships in the section individual tournament.

But upstart Harvard made a statement when David Brown upset Ghidirimic, 6-4, and the team score was tied, 4-4, early in the second round of sets.

“I’m feeling really good,” said Harvard Coach Harry Salamandra, anticipating an upset. “This is right where we want to be.

“This is exactly what we did against Sunny Hills.”

The Wolverines defeated second-seeded Sunny Hills on a tiebreaker, 83-76 in games, last week after the two teams tied, 9-9, in sets.

Could it happen again?

No.

Ghidirimic, a native of Romania who complemented fire-engine red socks with black makeup under his eyes to block the glare of the sun, won his next two sets, 6-0 and 6-0.

Brown split his last two sets, losing to Palm Desert’s Clint Stephenson, 6-4.

Palm Desert moved ahead, 7-5, after the second round and built a big advantage in games.

Harvard, needing victories in five of the remaining six sets, saw No. 3 singles player Vineet Bodhraja lose to Ghidirimic and its No. 1 doubles duo of Jamie Green and Wilton Park fall to Scorteanu and Brock Berry, 6-1.

That gave the Aztecs a 9-5 advantage in sets and an insurmountable 70-39 edge in games.

A group of about 50 Palm Desert students who caravaned in from the desert sounded like a throng of much-larger proportions as they celebrated with bottles of nonalcoholic champagne.

“We’ve got a lot of freshmen that are tough players, and we might be stronger next year,” Brown said.

“I expected to get to the semis this year, but that’s it.”