Apr. 11—BEMIDJI — Brooks Johnson doesn't care where he is on the court as long he's playing tennis.
The Bemidji High School boys tennis team senior has already jumped across the lineup this season. He's played singles. He played No. 2 doubles against East Grand Forks on Tuesday. In the Lumberjacks' 7-0 win over Detroit Lakes at the BHS tennis courts on Friday, he teamed up with junior Peter Mathews at No. 1 doubles.
The duo won in two sets, defeating Max Mercil and Max Splonkowski by scores of 6-1 and 6-3.
"Brooks just wants to play tennis," head coach Kyle Fodness said. "If you put him on that court, or that court, or out on the parking lot, as long as he has a tennis racket and a net and someone on the other side, he's pretty happy. And that's the good, optimistic attitude you want."
That attitude is evident to anyone in attendance. Johnson can be heard yelling shouts of support across the court and even across the median into singles competition.
"I'm really trying to spread just the influence of being super loud on the courts," Johnson said. "I think that's super important, calling out to not just people on your side, like if I'm playing doubles not just talking to the doubles guys, but also the guys over on singles. I'm trying my best to shout to everyone, just making sure that we have positivity all over the court."
Seniors taking on that vocal leadership role is a tradition for the program at this point. Johnson hopes the next generation picks up the next mantle when he's gone, just like he did when it was his turn to step into that position.
"You see Brooks pick that up from prior seniors when he was younger," Fodness said. "It's just a really cool tradition, tradition never graduates thing, where if you just keep that chain going, then you always owe it to those guys coming before."
In addition to his attitude, Johnson's stable play has lent him to being Bemidji's do-it-all guy. When he's paired up with a teammate like Mathews, who has a nearly unhittable serve when he's firing on all cylinders, both players benefit.
Fodness is applying that complementary approach across the double pairings. Senior Max Louvar and freshman Chase Fairchild were the No. 2 doubles pairing against the Lakers, topping Reece Winter and Damarion Moss by scores of 6-3 and 6-0.
At No. 3 doubles, Bemidji deployed freshman Ethan Frank and sophomore Joe Bignall. The two bested Beau Carlson and Tristan Bristlin in two sets, winning 6-2 and 6-4.
"Sometimes you maybe like to match up two players who are really good at something and then they can do that thing really well," Fodness said. "And sometimes I think it can be better to have a little bit of a mix where they can complement each other really well. ... (They) all present some just different kinds of complementary things and that's kind of fun. Then they learn from each other, and that's a really nice thing."
Doubles aren't the only part of the lineup that's seen a few changes. Just four games into the season, the Jacks have put out a few different combinations on singles as well. All four individual players took care of business against Detroit Lakes.
One unchanged position, however, has been Owen Lappinga at No. 1 singles. The freshman picked up a two-set win over the Lakers' Nick Buboltz, winning by scores of 6-1 and 6-0.
BHS also impressed at No. 2 singles, as Dom Arndt notched a two-set win (6-1, 6-0) over Jude Houglum.
"Dom is so thoughtful out on the court," Fodness said. "What a fortunate thing for us that we got to have him join our team. ... He's a dang good singles player, and he's been playing tennis for a ...
