It was a near miss for the South Whidbey tennis doubles team of Levi and Ranger Buck.

The brothers placed fourth in the bi-district tournament Thursday, Oct. 24, at Lower Woodland Park, missing a state berth by one place.

The Bucks did, however, earn first-team, all-conference honors while competing in arguably the toughest conference in the state, the Emerald City League.

Senior Levi and sophomore Ranger lost 6-1, 6-4 to University Prep’s Nicholas Arron and Mathias Keaunui.

Arron entered the match with plenty of tournament experience, taking second in district doubles last fall and eighth in singles in 2017.

“UPrep came out very strong and we were a bit tight,” mother and coach Karyle Kramer said. “(We) had a hard time settling down. We were up a break early in the second set but we couldn’t capitalize.”

“Watching them play doubles together has been the highlight of my coaching career,” Kramer added. “It doesn’t matter that they didn’t get to state. To know they loved playing together, to have watched them gel and improve so much — it made it a very special season.”