Even two decades later, Sean Kane still tells the story.

It was the spring of 2007 — his first year as the Century head tennis coach. The state tournament that year was at Vallivue High School in Caldwell. He quietly switched shorts with his player Daniel Spicer — whose white stripe was too wide for the dress code — to save him from a violation by the “old and cranky” tournament director.

But that wasn’t the best part. His team came home with a third-place trophy — the program’s first state trophy in five years. Kane didn’t think it could get any better than that.

“I can’t even fathom being where I am right now,” Kane said of that moment. “Third place. This is the height of everything.”

As it turned out, that was only the beginning. The Century boys tennis team won its second state title in three years and fifth overall. The Diamondbacks edged Bishop Kelly by just a half a point — 41.5-41 — at the Class 5A State Tournament on May 16 at the Boise Racquet Club. It gave Kane his 10th state title between both programs.

Kane became just the fourth coach in Idaho history to win 10 or more state titles, joining Parma’s Jesse Eddy (24), Capital’s Tom Campbell (15) and Bishop Kelly’s John Armstrong (13).

“I really wanted 10,” Kane said. “I couldn’t tell you exactly why. I just think there aren’t too many people at that mark, and I knew it put me in a different tier.”

So the players decided to give him an impromptu celebration — and a wet one at that. Junior Liam McGee and senior Nate Romriell had quietly filled four water bottles with what Kane called “the good ice” and waited for the perfect moment. It came when Kane moved to take a photo with his state champion girls doubles team of Kate Spicer and Bel Miller.

But he still sensed something was up.

“I’ve been around these kids since they were in elementary school,” Kane said. “You develop a sixth sense.”

It didn’t matter. The water — ice and all — found its mark. McGee, unbothered by Kane’s subsequent complaints, had a simple response.

“Come on Sean, don’t be a baby,” McGee said with a laugh. “The ice can’t hurt that much.”

It was hard for Kane to be that mad.

The boys went unbeaten in head-to-head matches for the second straight season, finishing 12-0-2 with two ties coming against 6A’s Highland and Thunder Ridge. They took second at the Capital Classic — the state’s largest and toughest tournament — claimed a sixth straight district title and the 15th overall, and secured the 31st piece of hardware for the program.

Since Kane’s arrival, the Diamondbacks have taken home a state trophy every year but one. That came in 2021 when rain shortened the tournament format — otherwise, they’d probably be 20 for 20 right now.

“I thought we’d never get one,” said Kane, who won his first state championship in 2012. “And then we did, and then we kept getting more. I don’t even know what to say. I’m just so proud of all the kids from all the years.”

Perhaps none more so than Tiden Lynn.

For the last two years, the junior watched several of his own teammates win state titles. His freshman-year partner Kate Spicer went on to win the mixed doubles title the very next season — just not with him. McGee, who he grew up playing with, won back-to-back state titles with his older brother Daniel. Last year, Lynn had the most wins in the state — 25 — but still walked away with only a third-place finish for the second straight year.

“He’s always done what was best for the team,” Kane said.

So this year, it was finally his turn — and he was ready for it.

“If I just missed a shot, figure out what was wrong, don’t down myself, and move on to the next point,” Lynn said. “Because it’s in the past. You can’t do anything about it anymore.”

He entered state as the No. 2 seed at 29-2. He dispatched last year’s state runner-up Max Traynor of Idaho Falls and Blackfoot’s Pablo Martinez — one of only two players to beat him all season, and both in straight sets at that — to reach his first-ever state final.

But awaiting him there was the only other player who had gotten the best of him all season. Hillcrest freshman phenom Tayson Nelson had swept Lynn at the Capital Classic — winning the first set 6-4 despite Lynn leading 4-3, then pulling away 6-2 in the second. Nelson had lost just once all year himself — a third-set tiebreaker to 6A champion Duncan Kennedy of Boise.

“Ninety-nine percent of people were going to say Tayson was the favorite,” Kane said.

“I knew I was going to have to pull off an upset in some way,” Lynn added. “But Sean believed in me.”

The first set mirrored their Capital Classic meeting — both players holding serve, Lynn leading 4-3 before Nelson broke serve for a 5-4 lead. History seemed like it was going to repeat itself. But Kane was patiently waiting for Lynn at the changeover with a few simple words.

“I know you can break him,” Kane told him.

He did just that — and even won a tiebreaker to become just the second player this season to take a set off Nelson.

Lynn carried that momentum into the second set, jumping out to a 4-1 lead. But Nelson didn’t go down without a fight, quickly tying it back up at 4-4.

“I really started freaking out a little bit,” Lynn admitted.

But it didn’t show.

He broke Nelson and held his own serve for the 6-4 win. The championship point came on a serve wide to Nelson’s backhand. Nelson returned it cleanly. But Lynn responded with a hard shot down the middle and advanced to the net. Nelson’s reply went wide.

Lynn swung his racket in celebration, dropped it, clapped his hands and pumped his fist — then walked back and forth at the net, not quite sure what to do with himself. He finally put his hands on the net and leaned over, taking it all in.

“It was a sense of relief,” Lynn said. “I’m glad I got to win it this year with all the seniors that are still here — with Nate and Shep.”

His teammates felt it too. Bel Miller and Kate Spicer, watching from inside the courts, heard the news and sprinted outside.

“He was just so happy,” Miller said. “He’s like, ‘Guys, like, I beat Tayson, I literally beat Tayson.’”

He became just the second player in program history to win a boys singles state title — joining Josh Goodwin, who claimed it three times between 2010 and 2013.

“I’m so happy for him. He’s been the leader of our group,” McGee said. “He came up just short the last two years. He definitely deserved that.”

While Lynn was the only state champion for the boys, there were plenty of other good stories to go around.

None better than Shep Butler’s.

The senior had been left off the state roster the year before — not because he wasn’t good enough, but simply because there weren’t enough spots. Now he was paired up with McGee, who along with being a two-time state champion, carried a 71-9 career record into the tournament.

But there wasn’t much of a drop off. The two went 24-6 together, took third at the Gate City Invite, made the semifinals of the Capital Classic and won a district title.

“Shep’s like one of the coolest stories,” McGee said. “He was on JV his freshman year, and now he’s going to state and making it to the final.”

They nearly won a state championship, too. In the final against Bishop Kelly’s Ryan Emerson and Ellis Brown, they took the opening set 6-4. But they couldn’t hold on in the second — dropping a tense tiebreaker 7-6(3) — and never quite recovered, falling 6-1 in the third.

“We definitely ran out of bullets a little bit,” McGee said. “The momentum shifted in the second, and that was just kind of tough.”

Romriell, the reigning mixed doubles state champion, teamed with freshman Skylar Gates for a fourth-place finish — though it might have been more. Gates played through a shoulder injury throughout the tournament.

“If she’s 100%, they could have won mixed doubles,” Kane said.

But the real MVP of the day might have been sophomore Jude Davids.

The night before state began, he shared a hotel room with Lynn, who delivered a simple message.

“I kept telling him every match matters,” Lynn said. “We only lost by a point and a half last year. Every point, every match — it all adds up.”

He was right.

Davids went 1-2 at state against a brutal draw — his two losses coming against Nelson and Traynor, who finished third. But his 6-1, 7-6(5) win over Minico’s Ethan Shaw was the biggest win of the tournament. Without it, the Diamondbacks lose to Bishop Kelly by a half a point — another narrow, crushing defeat.

“Jude had probably the hardest draw of anyone — he had to play the number one and then the number three. He still got a win against Shaw, and that win right there was the difference,” McGee said. “I’m just so proud of him for stepping up.”

It continued a dynasty that began with a pair of borrowed shorts.

“From something that seems so insurmountable to just keep doing it and doing it. I don’t even know what to say,” Kane said.

Over at the 6A Tournament at the Boise State Appleton Tennis Center, the Highland boys took third with 23.5 points. It was their second state trophy in three years.

Cody Christensen and Kasey Carter were runners-up in boys doubles, while Sofi Call and Benson Ellis took fourth in mixed doubles