The final round belonged to Millard South, but the class A state championship team trophy remains the property of Lincoln East.

The Spartans clinched their eighth straight title Friday morning when No.1 singles player Clarke Tefft, the No.1 doubles team of Ryan Haith and Kelsey Moran and the No.2 doubles combination of Mike Roth and Kurt Jonske won their semifinal matches.

Only Roth and Jonske emerged victorious in the finals Friday afternoon at Dewey Tennis Center, coming from behind to defeat Columbusâ Joel Cromwell and Ward Behlen 6-3,4-6,7-5 to cap Eastâs scoring at 48 1/2 points. Millard South finished with 42 points.

The Spartansâ Loren Buxton lost his semifinal to Darren Ivy of Columbus 6-2,6-2 but won the third-place medal with a 5-7.6-3,6-4 win against Charles Yin of Omaha Central.

Millard South which finished second behind East for the sixth straight year, got gold medals from No.1 singles player Jay Bermis and its No.1 doubles team of Lance Mills and Bill Bemis.

But that didnât ruin the day for Eastâs Jeff Hoham, who has coached all eight championship teams.

"I look at my players in awe today because theyâre living something most people can only dream about," said Hoham, who will lose all six starters on this yearâs team to graduation. "and look at all theyâve overcome-Ryanâs broken thumb, Kelseyâs sprained ankle, Loren Buxtonâs bad back. Itâs amazing."

Jay Bermis fought off two set points against Eastâs Tefft in the first set and climaxed an 18-0 season with a 7-5,6-2 triumph. The East senior had reached the championship match wit a 7-5.7-6 conquest of Shane Placek of Fremont.

Mills and Bill Bemis finished a 17-0 season with a 6-0,6-7,6-1 conquest of Haith and Moran, the 1994 No.1 doubles champions. Haith, who played with a hairline fracture in his right thumb, was seeking a Class A record third straight No.1 doubles title.

Haith and Moran, who beat Fremontâs David Dyson and Zach Mahnke 6-2,6-3 in the semifinals, trailed Mills and Bill Bemis 3-0 in the second set before rallying and winning a tie-breaker 7-2 to force a third set. But Mills, who moved to Omaha last summer with his family from Memphis Tenn., and Bill Bemis, Jayâs younger brother, overpowered the Spartans in the third set.

"The team title÷that was the only goal we had," Moran said, "The other stuff is a bonus. Psychologically, we were probably too relaxed for the finals. But we still wanted to win it for pride."

Pride was the motivating factor for Roth and Jonske, the state runners-up at No.2 doubles last year.

"We werenât too happy with second place last yer, so we wanted nothing less than gold this time," Roth said.

It appeared that would come easy as the East duo led 4-1 in the second set, only to see the Columbus pair win the next five games and jump to a 4-1 lead in the third set. Roth and Jonske, however, closed strongly, winning six of the last seven games to finish an

18-2 season.

"We just started hitting out and being aggressive, just like we did in the first set," Jonske said.

In the semifinals, Jay Bemis defeated 1994 No.1 singles champion Josh Evans of Millard North 6-3,6-1 in a rematch of last yearâs championship match.

Jay Bemis a senior, was also a silver medalist two years ago at No.1 doubles.

"I play good every year, but it never worked out until today," Jay Bemis said.

Trailing 4-5 in the opening set, Jay Bemis saved two set points on a pair of Tefft errors. At 5-6, Tefft had two break points to send the set to a tie-breaker before Jay Bemis won the next four points and the set.

"Clarke was playing very well, but when he didnât get those set points, he got down a little," Jay Bemis said. "Josh (Evans) plays a big serve-and-volley game and Clarke stays back and is consistant, and it took me a while to get adjusted."

John Heine of Omaha Creighton Prep won the No.2 singles title with a 2-6,6-1,7-5 win over Ivy.