FARGO — Grand Forks Red River senior Julian Mallory knew time wasn’t on his side Saturday afternoon.

Leading in the second set of the Eastern Dakota Conference boys tennis singles championship, Mallory's leg started to cramp. After a brief pause to try and settle the cramping, Mallory returned to action, well aware he had to close out the match quickly.

“I just had to try to get the ball in,” Mallory said. “If he had a good point, I had to just let him take it. I couldn’t run.”

The No. 1-seeded Mallory battled back in the final game of the set to win the title match 6-4, 6-5 over No. 3-seeded Brandt Aslakson from West Fargo Sheyenne.

“(He) works his hardest every time he comes out,” said Red River head coach Josh Lunak. “He was able to pull through.”

Mallory admitted if a third set we

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