Down 12-4 two matches into the Div. 2 squash championship last night, Better Bookkeeping battled back to tie – before emerging victorious on countback points.

Tied 16-16 after the match, the foursome of Micah Smith, Zachary Kuehner, Aaron Nicholson and Cathy MacDonald claimed the league title only after all game points were tallied, 209-196.

Final scores include match scores and bonus points for match win, referees and proper jersey usage.

The Electrical Shop sprang out to an early lead in the Div. 2 final, after David Buckler beat Micah Smith 3-1 in a battle of No. 2 players.

Greg Ducharme then defeated Cathy MacDonald by the same score to give The Electrical Shop a 12-4 lead.

But then came the battle of No. 1s between Zachary Kuehner and Jamie McAllister.

The two went the distance in a hard-fought battle, with Better Bookkeeping's Kuehner eventually edging McAllister 3-2 with a 17-15 win in the fifth game.

Kuehner's teammate Aaron Nicholson would go on to beat Jenny Imbeau 3-0 in the battle of No. 4 players, leaving the two teams tied 16-16 in match and bonus points.

Kuehner said his battle with McAllister was tough.

"I couldn't see because I was sweating,” he admitted shortly after eking out his win in the fifth game.

"For sure it was partly luck. I got fortunate to make some shots and he missed some shots at key times. But really, that is how it is. You saw how evenly-matched we were. When you're that close, it really is just who gets the breaks.”

Kuehner praised McAllister for a well-played match.

"He's got ridiculously quick feet,” he said. "Ever since he became a No. 1, he's been a contender every time.”

The match allowed Kuehner to exact some revenge after McAllister beat him 3-1 in their last regular-season matchup.

"He didn't make it easy revenge,” he said. "After the first couple of games, I thought I was going to get away a little bit easy, but it felt like a championship game with overtime in the fifth game.”

McAllister, a first-year player, said part of the attraction of the squash league is the fact that every game is very competitive.

"The nice thing about this league is that it was really evenly-matched,” he said. "I think (squash pro) Khoon (Chua) does a really great job of getting the teams together. It was never a fait accompli, never a guaranteed thing. It was great to play in a well-matched league.”

Neither team was surprised to be in the title game, as the two clubs finished 1-2 in the regular season.

Better Bookkeeping finished atop the league with 285 points, with The Electrical Shop close behind at 278.

"We've been pretty strong all year,” admitted Better Bookkeeping's MacDonald. "It's pretty cool (to win the league). It's a nice end to the season.”

MacDonald said playing on a team makes an individual sport like squash more fun.

"The league has been really fun all year long,” added Kuehner. "This is the first squash league I've played in. It was my first month in Whitehorse when I joined the league, so it was a nice introduction to the spirit of Whitehorse, having a really cool team.

"We've been pretty close all year. I couldn't ask for a better group of people to play with, really.”

Ducharme said squash has proved to be a mental and physical workout.

"I've never played organized sports before,” he admitted. "To be this close to winning was really intense.”

Getting to the final was "a win enough,” Ducharme told the Star.

"For me, squash is everything I ever wanted in a sport. It's a lot like martial arts, which is what I've been into for quite a few years,” he explained. "It's all brain and fitness together.

It's like playing a game of chess while on your feet moving.

"You're the pawn and the pieces. You've really got to organize yourself when you're out there playing. I got addicted to playing it. I can't stop.”

In the third-place game, Aurora Geosciences eked out a victory of their own over North Star Storage, 16-15.

Aurora's No. 1 Meagan Wilson beat North Star's Lara-Rae Grant 3-0, while her teammate Jada Smith-Kwok bested Katherine Krabel 3-1 in a battle of No. 4 players.

North Star claimed the other two matches, with Jen Meurer beat Andre Benoit 3-1 and Sam Oettli defeating Sana Syed 3-1.