Tuscaloosa Academy’s boys team captured the school’s first Alabama High School Athletic Association tennis championship on Wednesday with a 2-1 playoff win over Covenant Christian of Florence in the 80th AHSAA State Tennis Championships in Mobile.

The teams had finished the Class 1A/3A Boys Tennis Championships in a 52-52 deadlock on Tuesday and it was decided they would play it off with a pair of singles matches and one doubles match – featuring each team’s No. 1 and No. 6 singles players and the No. 2 doubles team. Officially, coach Clete Browder’s TA squad was awarded one-half a point for the playoff win to earn the championship 52.5-52.

Tuscaloosa’s Academy junior Jonni Kneer defeated Covenant’s Gray McCoy 6-1, 6-1 in No. 1 singles on Wednesday and at the No. 6 spot, TA sophomore Lawson Kelly beat Carson Kelly. Kneer won his second straight singles crown on Tuesday.

The Covenant Christian No. 2 doubles team of Colin Thompson and Zack Bell beat TA’s Simon Mitrov and Lawson Young 6-0, 6-3. On Tuesday, the Covenant team had beaten the Tuscaloosa Academy duo 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals on the way to a state title.

The state championships continue Thursday and Friday with Class 4A/5A and Class 7A competition.