Triton one doubles partners Hannah Wanemacher, left, and Emma Ross, right, talk after a point during the Bremen Sectional semifinals Thursday. (Photo by James Costello)

BOURBON — History repeated itself for Triton at the Bremen Girls Tennis Sectional Thursday night.

The Lady Trojans, who were eliminated by the host Lions 3-2 in the semifinals at last year’s sectional, suffered another 3-2 loss to Bremen in this season’s semis. The good news, like last year, was that Triton’s one doubles tandem of Emma Ross and Hannah Wanemacher survived in the state doubles tournament with their 7-5, 6-1 victory over Lacey Bennitt and Maggie Whitinger.

The Trojan juniors found themselves trailing by three games early in the first set before adjusting their play to the blustery wind to take five of the next six games to steal the momentum, then two straight to take the first set. They cruised in the second set to advance to next week’s CGA tournament a second straight season.

“They were down 0-3 right off the bat. What it was is that Bremen came out aggressive, and both came to attack at the net,” explained Triton head coach Al Peckham. “Our girls are great lobbers. With the wind it’s hard to do that. Once they got the rhythm and got the judgement of the wind and started getting a little bit better lobs — and I also told them try to hit through them a few times instead of trying to lob, try to hit a few good strokes. I thought that changed them up a little bit. Then they weren’t looking for the lob all the time; they were looking for good ground strokes.”

The tennis partners also happen to be lifelong best friends, and, according to Ross, that helps give them an edge over other tandems.

“We’ve been best friends since birth. So we just have that mental know what to do and move with each other,” Ross said. “I know when she’s down, and she knows when I’m down. We just know how to talk to each other and say, ‘Hey, quit doing that,’ and we’re fine with it.”

Thursday’s sectional meeting was actually a rematch of a regular season meet played back on May 5 between the tourney rivals, which Bremen also won 3-2. The outcomes were the same on all five courts the second time around, although the matches played out a little differently.

Triton senior two singles player Quinn Downing won the Trojans their other match point of the night, but the points were a little harder to come by the second time around against Bremen’s Nicole Tomlinson. While she dispatched Tomlinson 6-3, 6-2 back in May, Downing had to bear down to hold her off 6-3, 6-4 Thursday.

Downing was questionable at the start of the season after playing with a nagging shoulder injury through the basketball season but became one of the most consistent players in the Triton lineup over her final spring season, and Peckham will miss the reliable upperclassman.

Quinn Downing chases down a ball during two singles play. (Photo by James Costello)

“During the season she had a little easier time so this other girl, they battled really well the second set,” Peckham said. “Quinn is one that’s just a gutsy player. She just goes all out, runs everything down, hits everything back and just refuses to give up. That’s the way she’s been playing all year.”

After taking eight games from Bremen number one Liz Lawmaster during their first meeting in May, Triton’s Kolbie Mason couldn’t get find any answers for Lawmaster in their sectional semifinal, falling 6-2, 6-1. It wasn’t that Mason played poorly, but Lawmaster simply wasn’t giving her a whole lot to work with, said Peckham.

Kolbie Mason returns a shot during one singles play. (Photo by James Costello)

“Usually I try to read the opponent to try and see if there’s anything wrong, and some nights they just play well. I didn’t see much where Kolbie could take advantage of anything,” he said. “The Bremen girl just was on point with rhythm and timing and just the way she hit. She played really nice defense.”

Also Thursday, Triton’s Siera Sauer fell to Emily Smith, 3-4 at three singles, and Kendra Morris and Kaylene Slabaugh lost their two doubles match with Bri Andrews and Lindsey Miller, 1-1.

The Trojans close at 7-5.

Bremen advances opposite Plymouth — a 5-0 winner over LaVille in Thursday’s other semifinal — in the championship Friday at 5 p.m.