Apex’s parents were settled into folding chairs and the main picnic table was stocked with fresh strawberries, snack bars and coolers filled with iced-down bottles of water and Gatorade.

But Apex’s opponent in the 4-A state team tennis second-round match was unlike any other the Cougars faced this year. Wilmington New Hanover beat them Tuesday by a score of 6-0.

“We knew coming in New Hanover had its best team in forever – or at least in many, many years,” said coach Steve Spivey. “I just told the guys to put it on the line and play hard. The thing about tennis is there aren’t many upsets. The best player is going to win 90 percent of time, and that’s true in high school, college and professionally.”

The Wildcats swept the singles matches in play that lasted only an hour. With the match already clinched, doubles was canceled and New Hanover’s players boarded their bus for a 2 1/2-hour ride home.

“I was proud of my guys. They had a great year,” Spivey said. “We won a share of the conference championship. Beating a Green Hope [to share the title with the Falcons] was a good milestone for us. All the guys have been super and the parents have been super. It was great year at Apex.”

Spivey, the retired Broughton coach that filled in this year so longtime Apex coach Ryan Phelps could take the spring off with his wife and newborn child, says this was his last year coaching.

“Playing for coach Spivey was a good experience,” said senior Eric Fletcher. “We hated not having coach Phelps with us for our senior year, but we understood. Coach Spivey came in and everything was natural and not awkward. One of our goals was to beat Green Hope, and we accomplished that.”

New Hanover’s talented lineup included three players who qualified for the state 4-A individual tournament. Thailand foreign-exchange student Woravin Kumthon Kittikul won the eastern regional singles title the previous weekend and the doubles team of Alex Gaines and Sammy Kohl won the eastern regional doubles title.

Kumthon Kittikul beat Apex senior Gibson Smith 6-1, 6-0 at No. 1 singles. Gaines defeated Fletcher 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2 singles and Kohl swept junior Shivam Desai 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3 singles.

“They were a great team and we knew they’d be tough,” Smith said. “We still had a great season and got to the second round of state playoffs.”

Apex closed out the season 16-3 overall.

Caps top Falcons: Green Hope’s Matt Hammond won at No. 1 singles, but Broughton won all the other matches in an 8-1 4-A victory. Hammond defeated the Caps’ Steed Johnson in a marathon 6-1, 4-6 (13-11) match.

Green Hope ended its season 16-3.

Cardinal Gibbons 6, Southern Nash 0: Cardinal Gibbons, the N.C. High School Athletic Association 3-A dual-team tennis runner-up in 2010, pounded through the second round of the tournament Tuesday with a 6-0 victory over Southern Nash. The Crusaders only dropped one set in the sweep.

Gibbons has reached the finals in dual team ever since it joined the leagues five years ago and the Crusaders are loaded.

Junior Matt Daly is the regional singles champion and freshman Robert Kelly also qualified for the singles tournament that begins Friday in Burlington. Senior Chris Geaslen and junior Killian Steer were the regional doubles champion.

“We knew Southern Nash because we played it in the semifinals last year,” said Gibbons coach Andrew Tuttle. “Our guys really responded well and did a good job.”

Gibbons (23-2) has lost to only one North Carolina team this year, dropping a 5-4 decision to powerful East Chapel Hill.

Staff Writer Tim Stevens contributed to this report