MONUMENT • The spirited match between Discovery Canyon’s Brandon Nachbar and Lewis-Palmer’s Naveed Ghasem technically took place on Tuesday.

But the mind games started days earlier, when the No. 2 singles players gathered on a tennis court for a little back-and-forth; fine-tuning both their games and their trash talking.

“We talked some smack, I guess,” said Ghasem, a junior. “We knew it this would be a fun match.”

The friendly rivalry turned into a grueling match. Nachbar finally seized control in the third set with his serve to win 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 and help the Thunder to a 4-3 team victory.

“That third set, I couldn’t even get a read on his serve,” Ghasem said. “He was just bombing them in.”

While Nachbar picked up his serve in the third set, Ghasem struggled with his, double-faulting on match point.

Those roles had reversed in the second set.

“We’ve known each other for about four years, and we’re just competitors out there,” Ghasem said. “There’s big shots, there’s big points, and I think I just competed better in the second set and just made the big shots when I needed to.”

But Nachbar made adjustments and went up 5-0 in the third set.

“I tightened up a little bit on my serve,” he said. “I was doing it sort of nonchalantly. And I guess he tightened up in a bad way.”

Nachbar’s win was the turning point for the Thunder, which got a 6-2, 6-1 victory from No. 1 singles player freshman Luke Lorenz (7-1) over senior Duy Pham (0-3).

After the second singles win, Discovery Canyon’s No. 2 doubles team of Luke Lindquist and Alex Yoder closed a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win to tie the team points total at 3-all. And Matt Siegel and Nick Ramsay cruised to a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 4 doubles to give the Thunder (2-2 in duals) the victory.

“We’re a rising-level school,” Nachbar said as the last match was finishing, “so to beat a big school like this, would be a big confidence boost for us.”

Discovery Canyon’s Brandon Nachbar returned a shot by Lewis-Palmer’s Naveed Ghasem during their No. 2 singles match at Lewis-Palmer High School Tuesday. Nachbar won 7-5, 4-6, 6-2. Photo by CHRISTIAN MURDOCK/THE GAZETTE