On one side of the fence was East Rowan freshman Wesley Perkins, emerging stroke-by-stroke as a bonafide headliner. Never mind that the unbeaten singles player was stricken with ulcerative colitis, a punctured lung and a kidney stone — all in succession between last October and January. “It amazes me that he’s even on the court,” marveled long-time coach Worth Roberts. “He spent 30 days in the hospital.”

Nearby was senior teammate Robert Basinger, the team’s unassuming, lead-by-example commander, playing like a bird of passage. “I don’t think we’ll ever relive this kind of season, ” he acknowledged. “This is our fleeting moment and we’ve got to grab it. It’s this year, or never again.”

On the far court was German exchange student Bjorn Todt, another of the Mustangs carpe diem kids, joining doubles partner Derrick Preston in a match-clinching performance that gave East a 5-4 state 3A playoff win over visiting Ashboro.

“I’ve already booked my flight back to Germany,” Todt said with a tinge of sadness in his voice. “And I’m going to have trouble going back. It’s been so much fun. This is such a great moment, part of a great season and a great year. No one wants it to end.”

Finally there was Roberts, strolling the walkway parallel to the courts, offering encouragement from above. After 23 years on the job, his hardest battles have already been won. He has seen it all, yet hasn’t seen enough.

“I think we all wanted to advance, but you never know what you’re up against until you get there,” Roberts said after East (15-1) made its first postseason appearance in eight years. “Right now we have to take it one match at a time. We have to play steady and consistent. Had we lost today, I wouldn’t have felt any different about these kids than I do now. But I am impressed that we won.”

East triumphed largely because it plugged some leaks in its doubles game, a season-long nuisance. After splitting the six singles matches with Asheboro (14-3), the Mustangs rallied to win two of the three double features.

“We have three undefeated singles players on this team,” said Basinger (16-0), who hasn’t lost so much as a set this spring. “And we’ve kinda relied on them all season. We’re used to going into the doubles matches with a 4-2 or 5-1 lead. Today it was 3-3 and, yes, we were concerned.”

Although Basinger, Perkins (15-0) and Todt (16-0) each prevailed with relative ease, teammates Preston, Thad Walton and Michael Starr were defeated. That put the squeeze on Perkins and Walton at second doubles, and they rose to the occasion with a tidy 10-0 win over Asheboro’s Jeremiah Osteen and Luke Bumgarner.

“I felt like when it got to seven, eight to nothing, we had the match,” said Perkins, who has regained most of the 30 pounds he lost over the winter. “We still had to be careful. I’ve seen people come back from 7-1 to win.”

The Todt-Preston combo secured East a berth in Tuesday’s second round with a 10-5 victory over Doug Pickett and Daniel Shiflet at third doubles. “It may not have looked tough, but it was,” said Todt. “We just had to keep cool. When you do that you don’t make as many mistakes.”

Keeping cool is something this team seems to do well. They are more spit than shine, more grit than glamour. And, quite wonderfully, their season reads like a novel you don’t want to put down. Not yet, anyway.

“We’re a team that figures it out as we go along,” smiled Walton, a four-year letterman who has lived through the lean times on St. Luke’s Church Road. “But we’ve always fallen a little short. Last year we were 7-0 and thinking state playoffs, then lost our last five matches and missed out. This year we got to 7-0 and said, ‘Hey, we can’t let this slip away again.’ It’s something Robert and I have wanted since seventh grade.”

Now it’s something they can call their own.

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