Apex senior Viking Edeback and sophomore Wesley Barrett agreed they’re better teammates than adversaries.

After both reached the final of the singles draw last year, with Barrett winning by default, the two teamed up this year and won the doubles draw on April 30 at Cary Tennis Park. They charged to the title without losing a set and defeated Green Hope’s Kevin Terrill and Taylor Elliott 6-3, 6-0 in the final.

“This is definitely more enjoyable,” Barrett said.

In the final, the first set was tied 2-2 and Edeback and Barrett nearly went down 3-2. But they held on to take a 3-2 lead and then rolled the rest of the way.

“After we won that first set, we started playing well,” Edeback said. “We didn’t let up. We just kept the momentum.”

Edeback and Barrett went undefeated in conference play this season and lost only two matches all year. By winning the Tri-Eight, Apex coach Ryan Phelps hopes the victory will be a springboard to success at this weekend’s regional tournament.

“They obviously want to advance in the regionals and qualify for states,” Phelps said. “And I think they wanted to have a good tournament here to gain some momentum and prepare for that. We’ve seen in the past how important it is to do well here. Our region is so deep, so for them, it’s big to win this tournament and hopefully get a seed at the region.”

Cacha claims singles

Athens Drive freshman Roman Cacha beat Cary senior Justin Radloff 6-4, 6-4 in the final to win the singles draw and became the fourth straight underclassman to win the title.

“It’s really an awesome feeling,” said Cacha, who twice lost to Radloff during the regular season. Armed with a powerful serve, a strong backhand and solid groundstrokes, Cacha had his way with Radloff. The difference in this match versus the first two was the Cacha took control early. He won the first game in the first set and never trailed.

“He served great; beautiful forehand and backhand. His groundstrokes were there,” said Athens coach Gene Thomas. “He hits everything. He gets to everything.”

Cacha had a slight advantage in that he did not have to play a semifinal match. Green Hope’s Jake Bowling defaulted, giving Cacha extra time to rest for the final. Radloff had a tough match against Middle Creek’s Duke Finely, winning 6-4, 6-4 to make his third final in four years.

All the semifinalists from the Tri-Eight tournament advance to the Mideast Regional, which runs Friday and Saturday at Sanderson High School.

Also this week, Green Hope and Apex began play in the NCHSAA 4-A dual team tournament, which began Tuesday. Results were not available at press time.