SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. – Shelbyville Central’s Henry Stone defended last year’s district title while Lilly Smith finished in second place at the District 6-AA Individual Tournament on Thursday.

No. 1 seeded Stone, who advanced to the championship after downing Lincoln County’s Zaki Lin in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1, took down No. 2 seed Kingston Dale from Lawrenceburg in the final, 6-2, 6-2. 

“It means a lot. I wasn’t sure how the competition was going to be this year, but it lived up to what I was expecting,” Stone said, “Each round was tough, but consistency is what got me through.”

With his win over Lin in the semifinals, Stone also qualified for the Region 3-AA Tournament for the second-consecutive season. After his experience last season, Stone feels that he has a better grasp on how to prepare this time around. 

“I know that the competition in the region was tougher than I was expecting, and I found that out last year,” he said, “It’s tough, but I’ll be prepared and ready to go.”

Meanwhile, on the girls’ side, No. 2 seed Lilly Smith will be joining her teammate in the Region 3-AA Tournament after she advanced past Tullahoma’s Ella Matthews in the semifinals, 6-4, 6-1. However, Smith fell short in straight sets to No. 1 seed Chloe Gibson from Lincoln County in the final, 6-3, 6-3.

Stone and No. 1 seed Shelbyville Central take on No. 4 seed Tullahoma on Friday at 4:00 p.m. in Shelbyville for the District 6-AA Team Semifinals.