The Pinecrest boys' tennis team advanced three players to the state 4-A individual state cham-pionship.

The doubles team of Brian Patnode and Eric Helms improved to 20-0 for the season, collecting the Mid-West Regional championship with a convincing 6-1, 6-3 win over Ryan Applegate and Clay Cooke of Mount Tabor High School.

Kory Roscoe reached the state championship in singles competition by reaching the regional finals before losing.

The regional competition was held at Pinecrest and the Pinecrest Tennis Club last Friday and Saturday. It included schools from the Southeastern, Metro and Central Piedmont conferences.

Patnode, Helms and Roscoe will all travel to Burlington Friday for the opening rounds of the state championships. The two-day competition will be held at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center at Elon College.

"Win twice, and they get to play Saturday," Patriot coach Fairley Cameron said.

The semifinals and finals in both doubles and singles will be held Saturday after Friday's first two rounds of competition.

Regional competition featured some tough matchups for the Patriots. The duo of Patnode and Helms turned back Applegate and Cooke in the finals 6-1, 6-3. Applegate and Cooke had reached the quarterfinals (one of just eight teams remaining) in the state tournament last year.

Patnode and Helms defeated Dylan Fisher and Wes Van Dorn of Southeast Guilford 6-0, 6-1 in reaching the finals. With their undefeated record, the two may earn a number-one seed in the state tournament.

"I believe that they (Patnode and Helms) will make a strong bid for a state title," Cameron said.

Roscoe knocked off two opponents before meeting Justin Roberson of Mount Tabor in the fi-nals.

Roberson, the number-three ranked player in the state USTA 18-under rankings, defeated Roscoe 6-0, 6-0 in the championship clash. The only loss suffered by Roberson (21-1) this year came against a nationally ranked player in his first match of the season. During the tournament, Roberson only dropped a total of three games.

Roscoe, who is 18-3 overall in singles this season, defeated Brian Hummel of Mount Tabor 6-4, 6-0 in the first round. He added a 6-0, 7-5 win over Will Beam of West Forsyth in reaching the finals.

Patrick Walker of Pinecrest lost in the first round of the regionals to John Feiry of Page by a 6-2, 6-2 score.

The Patriot doubles team of Matt Daughtery and Ross Tilley lost in the first round to Daniel Paschal and Jason Steinhorn of Page 5-7, 6-1, 7-5.