PEORIA — Dunlap had a great boys tennis team in 2023, leaning on its doubles and its depth to take fourth place statewide at the Illinois High School Association Class 1A state finals in late May.

The two most dominant players in the Peoria area — Metamora singles star Bryton Short and Notre Dame singles ace Scott Anderson — earned all-state honors while Morton (11th), Metamora (16th) and Notre Dame (18th) had strong team showings.

Yet Short stood tall above all and is the 2023 Journal Star boys tennis Player of the Year, with his regular-season effort making him the area's best. He went 37-4 in singles play, and teamed mostly with fellow senior Alexander Schroff for a doubles tandem that went 17-1 — its only loss coming to the Missouri state champions.

Peoria at state: Dunlap falls just short of trophy at IHSA boys tennis state finals

Short's signature victory was a showdown match with Anderson on May 8. Short won that match, 6-4, 7-5, then teamed with their respective partners and beat Anderson in doubles, 6-7 (5), 6-1, 1-0 (6) for a sweep.

"The thing about Bryton is that he didn't pick up a racket in his life until eighth grade," Metamora coach Kelly Willard said. "He's an unbelievable worker, just went crazy with it. He hit more balls in the last four years than probably the rest of our team combined.

"That's just how he's made."

Here are the Journal Star all-area picks for boys tennis, led by Short with additional singles players listed in alphabetical order, followed by doubles teams:

Bryton Short, Metamora

The senior Journal Star Player of the Year went 37-4 in singles and 17-1 in doubles, won the Mid-Illini Conference championship, earned Mid-Illini Conference first-team honors and went on to win the Class 1A Ottawa Sectional title.

At state, Short won his first three matches to reach the Elite 8, then lost to the tournament's No. 2 seed in the fourth round. He drew the state's 5-8 seed in the consolation quarterfinals and lost, ending his high school career.

Short beat the area's highest state finisher, Scott Anderson, with a single/doubles sweep on May 8. He also beat another elite player, Morton's Carter Kendall, in singles 6-0, 6-2 on April 29 and 6-2, 6-0 on March 30.

Short earned IHSA second-team all-state honors, and he'll play tennis for Coe College next.

Scott Anderson, Notre Dame

The terrific senior went 35-6 and earned all-conference honors, won the Dunlap Sectional and went on to earn IHSA first-team all-state honors in the Class 1A boys state finals.

At state, he reached the quarterfinals of the championship bracket, where he lost to eventual third-place finisher Kiran Garapati of Chicago Latin. He moved down to the consolation bracket and lost in the semis to eventual champion and fifth-place finisher Ezra Bernhard of Champaign Central.

He also had the entire Dunlap team rooting for him at the end.

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Alex Fei, Dunlap

The sophomore took Carter Kendall to three sets — 2-6, 7-5, 7-5 — in the semis of the Class 1A Dunlap Sectional and settled for a fourth-place finish there. He was a combined 18-17 this season in singles and doubles play for Dunlap, helping the team to a sectional championship and earning first-team Mid-Illini Conference honors.

Fei could not duplicate his freshman run at state, where in 2022 he won three matches, made it to the fourth round of consolation play and finished with third-team all-state honors. This time around, he split four matches and exited in the second round of consolation.

Carter Kendall, Morton

The junior singles player was a first-team all-Mid-Illini Conference pick and finished second in the Class 1A Dunlap Sectional. He rolled through a 35-6 season to lead Morton to a second-place finish and 15-4 record.

Kendall lost to Short in the second round of the state finals but made it back to the fifth round of the consolation bracket to finish in the 13-16 block overall and earn second-team IHSA all-state honors.

With Short and Anderson gone, he could be a top contender for POY next season.

Aashish Pentela, Dunlap

The junior finished third at the Class 1A Dunlap Sectional, earned first-team Mid-Illini Conference honors and secured a place on the IHSA all-state third team. Pentela lost his opening match on a third-set tiebreaker, then battled back for three straight wins in the state consolation bracket before dropping another tiebreaker in the fourth round, 1-6, 6-2, (10-5) to Quincy Notre Dame's Marko Cucuk.

He was 27-7 as a singles player, including a 6-3, 6-2 loss to Notre Dame's Scott Anderson in the Dunlap Sectional.

Alexander Schroff, Metamora

A senior who finished runnerup to Short in singles to help the Redbirds win the Class 1A Ottawa Sectional title.

Schroff won the Ottawa singles title in 2022 when Short was out with an injury.

In 2023, he had a 32-8 singles record and teamed up with Short in some doubles to beat some of the area's elite tandems that included Scott Anderson (Notre Dame), Aiden Belsly (Morton) and Graham O'Leary (Dunlap).

The Olivet Nazarene commit earned Mid-Illini Conference first-team honors, but had a tough state finals. Schroff drew eventual third-place state finisher Kiran Garapati in the opening round of the tournament, and was sent to consolation, 6-0, 6-2.

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Aiden Belsly and Blake Shoemaker, Morton

The senior doubles partners knocked off both of Dunlap's doubles teams, including Graham O'Leary and Shaan Kashyap for the Class 1A Dunlap Sectional title, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Belsly is a big left-hander who was a force as a No. 2 singles player as well. His combined singles and doubles record was 38-6.

The doubles tandem won its first three matches at state, gaining the championship quarterfinals, before eventually being eliminated in the consolation quarters.

They won the M-I conference doubles title, and both earned Mid-Illini Conference first-team honors and second-team IHSA All-State honors.

Graham O'Leary and Shaan Kashyap, Dunlap

O'Leary, a senior and Mid-Illini Conference first-team selection, teamed with Kashyap, a junior and Mid-Illini Conference second-team pick.

The Eagles drew 11 of their 18 team points at the IHSA Class 1A state finals from their two doubles teams, narrowly missing a top-three team finish by one point behind Champaign Central.

O'Leary and Kashyap played six matches, winning their first two in the championship bracket, and their first two in the consolation bracket.

They gained the consolation quarterfinals, where they lost 6-2, 6-4 to Will McHugh and Marko Nikolic (St. Ignatius College Prep). That opponent went on to win the consolation bracket and finish fifth at state.

O'Leary and Kashyap, who went 25-7 during the season, earned IHSA second-team All-State honors.

O'Leary finished his Dunlap career with 108 wins.

Matthew Choy and Ethan McRaven, Dunlap

Choy, a senior, teamed with McRaven, a sophomore and together they both landed Mid-Illini Conference second-team honors and finished third in the Class 1A Dunlap Sectional.

At state, they won their first two matches before losing in the third round to Troy Triad's Marc Foudcoeur and Dillon Henderson, who went on to finish sixth in Class 1A.

Choy, who had a 27-6 combined singles/doubles record this season, beat Henderson, 6-2, 6-3, in a singles match on April 29.

Choy and McRaven battled on into the fifth round of the consolation bracket at state before their run ended with IHSA second-team all-state honors.

McRaven's father, Steve, was a doubles star at Richwoods, where he teamed with Matt Maris for a fourth-place state finish in 1986.

Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: IHSA boys tennis: Peoria Journal Star player of the year, all-area team