varsity.roanoke.com

NEWPORT NEWS -- Patrick Henry's Chris Hincker kept his cool at steamy Huntington Park.

Ocean Lakes' Ben Wirth lost his -- just for an instant -- and it cost him in Friday's Group AAA boys tennis state semifinals.

Hincker survived the heat and the heavy-hitting Wirth 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 and will end his high school career in today's state final against defending champion Drew Courtney of Robinson.

"All the pressure's on Drew," said Hincker, who dropped a narrow 7-5, 7-5 decision to Courtney in last week's state team tournament. "I'm just going to go out there and have fun."

The aggressive Wirth and the counter-punching Hincker battled evenly in 90-degree heat for nearly an hour, and the Ocean Lakes' star appeared poised to capture the first set when he seized a 6-4 lead in the tiebreaker.

Hincker coaxed a pair of errors from Wirth to pull even at 6-all. Then, after a long exchange, Wirth pushed a forehand long after sprinting to retrieve a Hincker drop shot.

An angry Wirth fired his racket to the ground and was assessed a code violation and the loss of one point by the tournament umpire. That meant instead of being down 7-6, Wirth lost the tiebreaker 8-6.

The outburst was uncharacteristic of Wirth, the three-time Eastern District champion who is generally regarded as one of the sport's best-mannered juniors.

"The umpire did the right thing," said Wirth, who added that it was the first time he'd thrown his racket in anger in four years.

Hincker pumped his fist with excitement when the first set was over. But after the match, he expressed mixed feelings about how the set had ended.

"I'm actually kind of disappointed," he said. "I mean, I think I earned the set, but it's a shame what happened."

A despondent Wirth fell behind 5-0 in the final set, but then the heat began getting to Hincker.

After Wirth got to within 5-2, Hincker called for a bathroom break on the changeover.

Hincker then broke Wirth to close out the match -- just in time.

"I'd run my butt off the whole way, and at 4-0, my body began to shut down," Hincker said. "If I'd lost that game, I'd have been in trouble."

Robinson's Courtney, a junior, reached the final by defeating Mills Godwin's Kyle Parker, 6-1, 6-3.