All season long the Parkland boys tennis program boasted one of the best singles players in the Lehigh Valley and last week Josh Thomas proved it.

The Trojans’ No. 1 singles battled Freedom’s Noah Potts for the District 11 3A boys tennis championship last Tuesday at Saucon Valley High School, only to come up short in a 2-6, 6-2, 6-0 defeat.

Potts was perhaps the only player superior to Thomas during the 2023 season, and the Pates senior proved he is a special tennis player in winning his third straight district singles championship. But that does not detract from what Thomas did during the tournament.

Thomas, the tournament’s No. 2 seed, won his first round match over Emmaus’ Nick Stone, 6-2, 6-2. In the quarters, Thomas displayed some impressive tennis in defeating Freedom’s Gavin Labbadia, 6-1, 6-1. Then in the semifinals Thomas took down a fine player in Liberty’s Roman Farhad, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1.

As impressive as Thomas was during the tournament, he was just as good during the season, in which he won every match he played except for his battles with Noah Potts.

Parkland’s No. 2 and No. 3 singles players - Lucas Lee and Kevin Yao - also competed in the tournament but were unable to win a match. Lee was beaten by Liberty’s Roman Farhad and Yao lost to Southern Lehigh’s Harrison Clark.

In District 11 3A doubles championship action, Parkland’s duo of Taehyuk Yang and Rithik Raghuraman won their quarterfinal match but fell in the semis to Freedom’s Arun Chhugania and Labbadia, 6-3, 6-1. The Trojans’ other doubles representatives - Noah Oxfeld and Thomas Gilchrist, were defeated in the quarterfinals.

The District 11 3A boys tennis team championships are scheduled to begin May 1. Parkland, the tournament’s No. 3 seed, battles No. 6 Emmaus in the quarterfinals.