Crystal Bell admits she committed a strategic fault the night before what turned out to be her final match in the the 2017 Maine Principals’ Association State Singles Tennis Tournament.
“I had to play (top-seeded) Lana Mavor of Yarmouth in the Round of 16 last year and made the mistake of Googling her the night before,” said Bell, now a senior at John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor. “I’m reading these articles about how she’s home-schooled and plays three hours a day all year round and it just blew my mind that someone would be that committed.
“I was overwhelmed. I went in with the attitude that I was going to do my best and try my hardest, but she was phenomenal. Googling her was not a smart idea.”
Bell’s Google scouting report likely didn’t figure into the outcome of that match, as Mavor defeated Bell without losing a game en route to winning the 2017 girls singles title in convincing fashion. She lost only six games in five matches.
Such dominance by southern Maine high school tennis players seemingly is the norm these days. Laura Stein of Camden Hills in Rockport in 2004 is the most recent player north of Brunswick to capture the girls singles title.
The County is pleased to feature content from our sister company, Bangor Daily News. To read the rest of “Northern Maine standouts prepare to compete against ‘downstate’ tennis elite,” an article by contributing Bangor Daily News staff writer Ernie Clark, please follow this link to the BDN online.
