Howard Chen of Williamsport serves to Teli Bobotas of Montoursville. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Any progress is progress. No matter how little compared to the grand scheme of things, it’s still a positive step in the right direction.

That is what sums up Williamsport’s boys tennis team. And that’s not a knock on the Millionaires. Rather, it shows that in his second year as coach, Mike Lundy has Williamsport trending where he wants them to be. Last year, the Millionaires won just three matches all year. Halfway through this spring season, Williamsport’s already matched that win threshold.

Three wins may not seem like much, but with half a season to go, Williamsport can only keep improving upon last year’s mark.

“We’re improving. We already equaled the number of wins last season, we have half a season to go basically,” Lundy said after Tuesday’s 5-0 loss to Montoursville at home. “We just started the second half. We have to keep working and keep improving. It’s two or three matches a week, but we’re getting there. We’re getting better and I see improvement.”

And that’s all Lundy can ask of his players is for them to build on their strengths and keep getting better, day after day, match after match.

It was evident on Tuesday. Yes, Williamsport was shut out and lost 5-0 to a talented Montoursville team. But look closer at the individual matchups and the players on the court, and you could see Williamsport’s players competing well.

“It’s a testament to them. I’m here to coach and guide them, but they’re putting the time in. I know Howard Chen, he plays year round. He’s my No. 1, he plays at the Central PA Tennis Center all the time and he gets lessons from John Dorner who by far is the best tennis coach in the area,” Lundy said. “Howard plays, he puts the time in. Spencer (Kaar) too. These guys are starting to buy in and put the time it. It does show.”

The Millionaires have just one senior on the roster, so Lundy knows the future is full of potential.

“These younger guys are coming and I need these older guys to be an example for the younger kids so they see that.”

Kaar played outstanding in Tuesday’s loss. After falling in the first set to Gio Catino, 6-2, Kaar battled and won the second set, 6-4, and forced the decisive third set where he ultimately fell, 10-4. But going three sets against a talented kid like Catino is nothing shy of a confidence boost for Kaar.

“He’s been our most consistent player all year. He makes the least amount of mistakes of anybody on the team. That’s why he stays in the matches like this,” Lundy said. “He’s like Montoursville kids: he doesn’t make mistakes. Maybe tomorrow he’d win a three-set tiebreaker, but Gio played well and Spencer’s playing well (too). So his confidence has really skyrocketed. Of everybody on the team, he’s definitely the most confident.”

That confidence is beneficial too given that the District 6 Class AAA singles tournament is a week away and Lundy knows Chen and Kaar will be in for a tough tournament against teams like State College, Central Mountain and league foe Shikellamy.

“State College, holy heck, they’re like a college team they’re so good. We just want to go out and make a good showing. We’ll be out there with Shikellamy who we play, we’ll be there with Central Mountain who we play,” Lundy said. “Their Nos. 1 and 2 are really good. We haven’t seen Shikellamy yet, that’s our first time seeing Shikellamy when we get to districts. But the three of us out there? We’ll make a showing for District 4, you know?”

And the Millionaires are showing progress each match and no doubt, they’ll show a little bit more at districts.

HOPING TO MAKE RUNS

Speaking of the singles tournament, Montoursville’s players are ready to get the singles tournament underway. That will include standouts Gio Catino and Teli Bobotas, who are hoping to shake things up when the bracket gets unveiled this upcoming week.

“(Teli Bobotas) should have some good experience and be able to move pretty far in the brackets I think,” Montoursville coach Shawn Gardner said. “I’m hoping he can get all the way to the semis for sure and even further. But he can play good, just sometimes it’s the mental side of the game and it’s a big factor.”

“And Gio? I think his record’s good enough — you need .500 to get into singles — but I think he’s there now,” Gardner continued. “I think he’ll be there to play another singles district tournament.”

Catino and Bobotas have played well throughout the year and are a big reason for the Millionaires success this year in matchups.

Gardner noted that Montoursville’s doubles teams are a huge strength this year, and the doubles tournament should see Montoursville making a run as well if Gardner’s duos can play to their best abilities.

“I think we’ll do good in district singles and district doubles when that comes around too,” Gardner said.

Montoursville plays some good competition in the league and it’s helped the Warriors get better and prepare for the tough field that makes up the singles and doubles draws.

“They’ve had a lot of tough matches. We lost a fair amount of singles matches. I think we’re maybe .500 on the year with Teli and Gio maybe, but they’ve had some tough ones,” Gardner noted. “A couple three setters. I think they earned a lot of experience the last couple of matches.”

Jon Gerardi is the sports editor at the Sun-Gazette. He can be reached by email at jgerardi@sungazette.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JonGerardi.