After watching all three of his finalists drop their first sets in Fridayâs championship matches of the Class A state tennis tournaments, Lincoln East Coach Jeff Hoham was probably wondering if it was time to start up the team van for a long ride home.

Instead, he jump-started No.1 singles player Chad Van Horn with a short speech and then watched as Sam Nelson and Ryan Haith outfitted their No.1 doubles opponents. The turnaround sparked and the Spartans to their sixth straight Class A boys championship.

The "Back from the Dead Gang" as Hoham referred to his players as they rallied-needed every point it notched to edge Millard South 54-52 in the final scoring at the Dewey Center. It was the Indiansâ fourth straight runner-up finish.

"Sometimes when an athlete is down and it seems like everything is going against them, that is when they reach down inside and they find the adrenaline and desire to win," Hoham said." And Iâve got to tell you, my kids found that extra effort."

Nelson and Haith looked like they were finished on several occasions. With all other matches that would affect the final out come already completed, they trailed Chaz Kuper and Jay Bemis of Millard South 5-3 in the third set of the No. 1 doubles final.

But Nelson, the No.2 singes state champion last year, and Haith fought off math point twice to start a run of three straight games. After Kuper and Bermis combination outlasted the Indians 11-9 in a tiebreaker to end the 2 hour- 20-minute match.

"When it was 15-40 at 3-5, I looked up for a minute and saw my dad," said Hoham. "And I thought , right now I am becoming a fan of my own team. Iâve never had this feeling before. What I saw happen today was unbelievable."

Van Horn, 25-0, plodded through his first set against Millard Southâs Ryan Fuhrer before putting it together for a 1-6, 6-1 , 6-4 victory.

Van Horn said he didnât handle the pressure well early.

"I was nervous, "he said. " I think it got to me. After I got down 4-1 or 5-1 in the first set, I just said the heck with it . Heâs got the first set. I was planning on trying my very hardest in the second set."

Hoham said he also made a comment to Van Horn.

"I had to get him mad at me," said Hoham. " I yelled at him and told him that I was disappointed in him and he wasnât playing his best ."

Van Horn handled Furhrer easily in the second set and then broke the defending champion early in the third to tale over. Van Horn closed out his second win this fall over Furhrer 26-2, when the Millard South senior put three straight shots into the net in the final game.

"After I got ahead, I seemed to put more pressure on him," said Van Horn.

"He started missing his passing shots." Adrenaline helped me through that last set-to. I kind of felt tired. The crowd kept me going."

Millard south came out with a split in the finals after a perfect run through the semifinals. Top speed freshmen bill Bemis 26-0, beat Lincoln Easts Kelsey Morgans7-6 (7-2), 6-4 in the No. 2 singles finals, and the IndiansâTyler Jonhocek and Ty Kucera beat top-seeded Nate Anda and Jamie Nelson of Millard North 5-7 7-5 7-6 (7-1) in the No.2 doubles finals.

Lincoln East earned four points apisece for winning the no.1 championship matches while Millard South gained Two apiece for the No.2s. That allowed the Spartans to overcome the 48-46 deficit they faced after Friday morningâs semifinals.

"I donât think youâll ever find a team in state history that ever overachieved like this one did," Hoham said. "Check the statistics. Youâre going to find the top six players from Millard South to have a much higher ranking than any of my players, except for Chad."

Hoham said Van Horn played a big role in pushing the Spartans.

"When Chad came back, he was more verbal and more aggressive," Hoham said. "I think Chad made that commitment to himself. Once I gave him the OK to play - and he was angry with me because I wouldnât let him got until I was completely sure ö he looked me in the eye and said, ÎIâll prove to you. I wonât lose.â "