Canby finished fourth in the team standings for the district tournament title with 22 points, which was just six points shy of champion McMinnville. Only eight points separated last place and first.

“I think the kids felt good about the effort,” coach Dan Nugent said. “So in general, we had decent success. A couple of our individuals and teams thought they were going to get to state, but of course that didn’t happen.”

The Cougars had two entrants make the quarterfinals in the singles and doubles bracket, but could not muster one more win to automatically qualify for state and finish in the top four.

Canby junior Jack Knopp lost in the quarterfinals for the second straight year, falling to No. 1 seed Anthony Breitenbach of Tigard, 6-0, 6-1. Knopp reached the quarterfinals after beating Tualatin’s Zach Munger in the second round, 6-1, 6-3; and Newberg’s Killian Sump, 6-2, 6-3, in the opening round.

“A lot of that has to do with the draw and Jack won his first two matches and then he ended up drawing the No. 1 seed, which made it really tough for him in the quarters,” Nugent said. “But for him to get to the quarters, that’s two years in a row. That’s pretty good.”

Canby’s other near state qualifier was the doubles team of seniors Jake Fowler and Matt Triplett, who are first-year varsity players. The two, who were standouts on the boys basketball team, lost in the quarterfinals to Tualatin’s Derek Yagi and John Stromberg, 6-0, 6-1.

“They were just sort of along for the ride this year and they tried to help the team and have a little bit of fun,” Nugent said. “That’s a pretty good accomplishment (to reach the quarterfinals).”

In the singles and doubles consolation rounds, Canby rallied with several good showings.

In singles, sophomore Aaron Rouza reached the consolation finals before falling to Forest Grove’s Jordan Miller, 6-3, 6-2.

“Aaron again showed great resilience,” Nugent said.

In doubles, Canby’s No. 1 team of Garrett North and Eddie Gonzalez — both juniors — won the consolation bracket after taking down Newberg’s Austin Freeman and Jerry Peng, 6-0, 7-5.