It started with crusty rackets and bike rides to the tennis courts.

Kate Spicer was in seventh grade. Bel Miller was in eighth. Neither was particularly good. But they were neighbors and friends in need of something to do.

“We were really bad,” Miller said with a laugh. “We’d pull up to these clinics and have no idea what we were doing.”

Four years later, the Century High School duo are the undisputed best girls doubles team in the state. They knocked off Idaho Falls’ Katie Woodhouse and Addi Westwood 6-4, 6-2 in the 5A girls doubles final at the Idaho High School State Tennis Championships at the Boise Racquet Club on May 16. It made them the first Century players — and one of the few in Idaho high school tennis history — to finish a season undefeated at a perfect 29-0.

“You could probably count the amount of people who’ve done that on one hand in the whole state,” Century head coach Sean Kane said.

And unlikely ones to join that list at that.

Tennis ran deep in the Spicer family. Her late grandfather John, a longtime local tennis instructor, was a mentor to Kane early in his coaching career. Her uncle Daniel played for Kane at Century during his first season as head coach. And her father Cory, a former mixed doubles state champion, coaches with Kane at Century.

But Spicer still grew tired of the sport.

“I actually couldn’t tell you why,” Spicer said with a laugh. “I just hated tennis, and I never wanted to go play.”

Miller had never seriously picked up a racquet — not until a girl from Arizona moved in right down the street.

They rode bikes to the courts, went to clinics together and played night games in the neighborhood. Somewhere in those early sessions, something clicked — for both of them.

“I think once we started going and hitting together, she was like, ‘I’m just gonna hang out with my friend and we’re just gonna hit,’” Miller said of Spicer. “I think I honestly got into tennis because of her.”

The feeling was mutual.

“I definitely would give some credit to her,” Spicer said of Miller, who helped her rediscover her love of the sport.

But by the time high school arrived, they went their separate ways — in a sense. Miller, a senior, competed in singles her first two years, missing state as a freshman and failing to place as a sophomore, before taking third in girls doubles with Keeley McGeehan last season. Meanwhile, Spicer, a junior, took to mixed doubles — taking third as a freshman alongside Tiden Lynn, who won boys singles this year. Last season, Spicer and Nate Romriell became the first pair in program history to win a state mixed doubles title.

The assumption heading into this season was that Spicer and Romriell would defend their mixed doubles title. Instead, Romriell elected to play with Skylar Gates, leaving Spicer suddenly without a partner.

“I just never thought me and Nate were gonna play together again, really,” Spicer said. “I don’t know how to describe it. I felt like we just both wanted different things.”

But it was still hard watching Romriell play at state. He and Gates took fourth in mixed doubles.

Thankfully, Spicer had someone waiting in the wings. While the two had talked about playing together over the years, the pairing came together almost anticlimactically — a casual question between friends at practice one day.

Kane was willing to give it a try. In a regular season home match at Century, they knocked off Westwood and Woodhouse — the defending state champions — in straight sets. And after that, Kane was officially sold.

“It’s hard to say it was the wrong choice,” Kane said with a laugh.

That was only the beginning, though. The tandem became the first players in Century history — boy or girl — to win a championship at the Capital Classic, Idaho’s largest and toughest tournament.

“I wasn’t expecting it, because they were all 6A Boise schools,” Spicer said. “That was probably the best tennis me and Bell have ever played.”

“After Capital, people knew who we were,” Miller added.

Which, along with being unbeaten, comes with a lot of pressure. Miller felt it in the opening round, where she admitted to not playing her greatest. Spicer felt it just a little later — right before their semifinal against Middleton, just two wins away from history.

But even that didn’t rattle them for long.

“Kate and Bell’s belief was they weren’t ever gonna lose a game,” Kane said.

And they didn’t. Spicer and Miller didn’t drop a single set at state and lost just 11 games across their four matches. Six of those came in the final against Westwood and Woodhouse — but even the defending champions could only hang around for so long.

Miller served the final point. Spicer hit a backhand volley into the middle of the court. Woodhouse couldn’t return it. Spicer dropped her racket at the net and turned around.

“Let’s go,” she said.

Miller sprinted from the baseline to meet her. They embraced at the net, then turned to hug Westwood and Woodhouse — rivals who had become something like friends after three hard-fought meetings across the season. Assistant coach Emma Cox was next.

“We were both so happy with Emma on the court,” Spicer said. “She’s leaving next year, so I knew we kind of just had to win it for her in a way.”

Spicer and Miller are just the third girls doubles pair in program history to win a state title. They’re also the first since sisters Ella and Sabrina Wathne in 2016.

They beat all four 6A girls doubles placers — including 6A champions Miri Christensen and Halle Smith of Rocky Mountain.

“There are no what-ifs,” Kane said. “They played all the best teams. I don’t know if you get a much more clear-cut, undisputed champion.”

Their closest call all season came in a match tiebreak against Highland’s Jaycie Homer and Macy Benson at the Gate City Invite — the only time all season they were pushed to a deciding set. They won that too.

The secret to their success?

“She’s just super consistent, and I can just be aggressive, and it just works out perfectly,” Spicer said.

“Even if you’re both good at tennis, you could suck together,” Miller added. “When it really mattered, we just locked in.”

Kane put it more simply: “They just really kind of went together like peanut butter and jelly.”

Spicer is also the first player in program history to win back-to-back state titles in two different disciplines. She heads into her senior season with an astounding 82-6 career record, with only two losses over the last two seasons.

“I don’t know if I’ve met anyone more determined than her,” Kane said. “If you said she could do 50 push-ups, she would try to do 51. We’re just lucky she plays tennis.”

For Miller, it marks the end of her competitive career — more or less. She plans to join the club tennis team at Utah State in the fall. But she still had literally the perfect ending.

“We both started together,” Miller said, “and at least I ended my high school tennis career with her. That’s how we started playing — was together.”

Spicer and Miller weren’t the only ones with reason to celebrate. The girls team finished second with 28.5 points — edging Bishop Kelly by a half point. It was their second straight trophy and 13th overall. Hillcrest won with 34 points.

Senior Macie Sutton contributed to that by reaching the semifinals in girls singles in back-to-back years. She came within one win of placing.

Over in 6A, the Highland girls had a story of their own.

The Rams finished fourth with 18.5 points — a remarkable turnaround after scoring just one point in each of the last two years. It was their first state trophy in five years.

Homer and Benson, who had pushed Spicer and Miller to a tiebreak at the Gate City Invite, took third in girls doubles. The mixed doubles team of Sofi Call and Benson Ellis added a fourth-place finish.