MIDLAND — After being in such firm control, Mattawan senior Ana Cheng admitted there was a sense things were slipping away a bit Thursday.

Mired in the No. 1 singles final against Harriet Ogilvie of Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals, the top-seeded Cheng won the first set and was up 4-3 in the second after breaking Ogilvie.

But the second-seeded Ogilvie answered back, winning the next two games to go up 5-4.

“Honestly, I was thinking, ‘I couldn’t have dropped this set? Just win the third,” Cheng said. “Oh goodness. I just thought that I really needed to lock in on my shots and figure out the best plan to win.”

Cheng did that, rallying to win the next three games to earn a 7-5 victory in the second and a straight-set win over Ogilvie, an opponent she also defeated three weeks ago.

Cheng – who will play at the next level at Oberlin College in Ohio – had reached the quarterfinals last season as the seventh seed.

“When you play in high school, this is something you always dream about happening,” Cheng said. “You’re a senior and you always want to win states, so this is a dream come true for me.”

In the team event, it came as little surprise that Birmingham Seaholm repeated as champion and won its third title in four years, given the Maples entered the tournament with top seeds in seven of the eight flights.

Seaholm finished with 33 points, finishing well ahead of Forest Hills Northern and Farmington Hills Mercy, which shared runner-up honors with 22 points apiece. 

In the midst of the celebration afterward, it was a big sigh of relief for Seaholm head coach Casey Cullen, who knew his squad was the hunted all season.

“It was all in our heads that, ‘Hey, we need to work harder than we have, because we have a target on our back,’” Cullen said. “I mean, everyone wants to beat us since we won last year. We didn’t want to get complacent. So it was in my head a lot of the days. I think they felt it and worked their butts off, and this is the end result.”

Seaholm advanced to the championship match in five flights and received flight titles from sophomore Devon Rusk at No. 2 singles, junior Sabrina Dunn at No. 4 singles, the team of Cate French and Kate Crowley at No. 3 doubles and the duo of Alina Villager and Jacqueline Supancich at No. 4 doubles. 

“It was a total team effort,” Cullen said. “You look at our state seeds, we were the one seed in seven out of eight flights. I’ve never seen that. That’s a testament to how locked in they were during the season. Not a lot of silly losses that screwed up their seeds.”

Even better for Seaholm is there is a core of 11 juniors on the roster who should make a three-peat next year a likely possibility.

“The future is still bright,” Cullen said. 

The No. 1 doubles title was captured by Forest Hills Northern’s fourth-seeded team of Clare Knoester and Kylie Hatfield. They defeated Seaholm’s top-seeded tandem of Lucy Jen and Sophia Arndt in the semifinals, bouncing back after losing the first game 6-0 to win 7-6 (4) and 6-2. 

The other two flight winners were from Mercy. Senior Scarlett Manchinger claimed the title at No. 2 singles, while Mercy’s team of Anna Naida and Gabby Owens won at No. 2 doubles.

PHOTOS (Top) Birmingham Seaholm’s six flight winners stand together for a photo with the championship trophy Thursday at Midland Tennis Center. (Middle) Mattawan’s Ana Cheng rallied to win her No. 1 singles championship match in straight sets. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)