BETHLEHEM TOWNSHIP - Tegan Durishin and his Lehighton tennis teammates knew they would have their hands full against defending state champ Moravian Academy and two-time District 11 singles champ Zach Shaff.

The Indians fell 5-0 to the top-seeded Lions in the first round of the District 11 Class AA team tournament Saturday.Lehighton lost 6-0, 6-0 in all five matches. However, against a team as strong as Moravian, just taking a few games to deuce is an accomplishment many players fail to achieve."They played their hearts out, especially Josh (Knappenberger) and Tegan (Durishin)," said Lehighton head coach Dave Sherry. "They really hung in there on some points and I'm proud of them."I thought Tegan and Josh played some of their best tennis of the year. The score's not indicative of how they hung in there. Josh went to deuce several times."Durishin, a three-year starter at No. 1 singles for the Tribe, took on Zach Shaff, who won his second Class AA district singles title Friday. He called him the best player he has faced in his high school career."I remember playing Jon White from Pleasant Valley, Roy Defreitas from Blue Mountain and John Yurconic from Salisbury," said Durishin. "Zach is just on a different level. He's so precise with his technique and he's so relaxed, it's just natural to him."I was just trying to get a game under my belt. I felt I gave it my all and played pretty well, but there's just not a lot you can do against a player like that."Knappenberger lost the No. 2 singles match to the Lions' Abbhi Sekar, who was the No. 6 seed in last week's singles tournament. Phelan fell to Oliver Scott ant No. 3 singles.Ryan Brands and Deniel Elmi beat Shafer and Mike Pados at No. 1 doubles, while Robbie Shaff and Ryan Hoffman earned the win over Hoffner and Olivia Frendt at No. 2 doubles.Sherry left the match impressed with the Lions."This is a very solid team," he said. "I'd be very surprised if anybody beats them."The kids played hard. I'm going to lose five seniors. It will be very difficult for us to make it back here for a little while. The last two years we made districts.""Since the start of the season, we knew we were going to have a great team this year," said Durishin, "It's one of the best in the last decade or so our coach said. It's a good feeling knowing all our hard work paid off and we can go to districts."FINAL MATCH ... Five Lehighton seniors and four, four-year letter winners played their last high school match on Saturday. Durishin, Knappenberger, Shafer and Phelan have been on the team for four years. Hoffner is also a senior.LIONS CAN'T BE TAMED ... The win was Moravian Academy's 14th shutout of the season in 15 matches. Only Parkland managed a 4-3 loss.Moravian Acad. 5, Lehighton 0SINGLESZach Shaff (MA) def. Tegan Durishin 6-0, 6-0; Abbhi Sekar (MA) def. Josh Knappenberger 6-0, 6-0; Oliver Scott (MA) def. Thomas Phelan 6-0, 6-0.DOUBLESRyan Brands /Daniel Elmi (MA) def. Andrea Schafer/ Mike Pados 6-0, 6-0; Robbie Shaff /Ryan Hoffman (MA) def. Jake Hoffner/ Oliva Frendt 6-0, 6-0.