When two brothers play on the same high school tennis team, you’ll usually find them paired as doubles partners.

That isn’t the case with Wildcat netters Ryan and Josh Evans.

Ryan, the senior member of the duo, plays second singles while his younger brother, sophomore Josh, is Oak Harbor’s fourth singles player.

If there is any sibling rivalry it doesn’t show on the court. The two are more concerned with defeating their opponents in the WesCo North and for the most part, they have been successful playing for coach Horace Mells this season.

Singles players have kept Oak Harbor in just about every match this season and the Evans brothers have lost a combined three times.

Ryan said he has been playing tennis for the last six years and has been a member of the Wildcat varsity since he was a freshman.

“I think that is the best thing that has happened to me during my tennis career, being on the varsity team all four years,” he said.

Josh said he has also been playing tennis for the past five or six years and like his older brother, he has been on the Oak Harbor varsity team since ninth grade.

Tennis is a tradition in the Evans’ family and brother Chad, a 2005 OHHS graduate, was also a member of the varsity tennis team.

“He played tennis for a year at Skagit Valley after he graduated,” Ryan said.

Looking past graduation, Ryan said he wasn’t sure whether he was going to try to play tennis when he attends college.

“I’m probably not going to,” he said. “I want to go to a different school than a community college. I could probably play for a community college team but at a four-year school I’m not sure if I could.”

As far as goals for the remainder of the season are concerned, Ryan said he would like to win at the division tournament.

“I want to win at least one match, my first match, at the district. After that, we’ll see how it goes,” he said.

Josh has set a shorter-term goal.

“I’d like to beat Snohomish when we play them the next time,” he said.

The WesCo 4A North Division singles and doubles tournament begins at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 22, at Stanwood High School

Win or lose, the Evans brothers are tough players on the court and their efforts in second and fourth singles matches have kept the Wildcats right in the hunt against every WesCo team they faced during the 2008 season.

The pair should be tough players for any opponent to face at the the division tournament and both of them have a good chance of advancing to district competition.