Alexandria girls, White Plains boys win sectionals

By EASportsToday.com
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Updated: April 28, 2015

[corner-ad id=1][corner-ad id=1]White Plains girls finish second to Cubs; Oxford boys, Donoho and several individuals qualify for substate

Alexandria’s Katie Roberts (L) gets some advice from Cubs coach Scott Ginn during the girls County Championship earlier this season.

By East Alabama Sports Today

CULLMAN — It was early in the round, but Katie Roberts already was at a crossroad.

The Calhoun County girls runner-up was already 4-over-par after five holes and even though she wasn’t feeling particularly well she knew something needed to change if she was going to help her Alexandria golf team get through its sectional.

She found that something and played the remaining 13 holes at Chesley Oaks in even par to shoot 75, win low medalist and lead the Valley Cubs to the sectional team title.

“It wasn’t good early; I thought it was going to be a rough day,” Roberts said. “To already be 4-over after five you’re kind of thinking ‘what is happening now’ when you expected to play good. Something had to change. It was either be in the 90s or I’d be in the 70s, so apparently I chose the 70s.”

It wasn’t a 13-par finish, but she made enough birdies to keep it in the road. The turnaround started with a chip-in birdie on No. 6 from just off the green.

The Valley Cubs also counted a 77 from sophomore Abby Stevens and a 79 from senior Jordan Gregoria. Morgan Mayfield also shot 79. Taylor Snow and Olivia Parsons also qualified for sub-state as individuals.

Alexandria shot 231 as a team and won the title by four shots over county rival White Plains.

The Wildcats got off to just as rough a start as Roberts, closed to within a few shots of the Cubs with four holes to play but couldn’t close the gap down the stretch. They counted 77s from county champion Layne Dyar and Raegan Thompson and a 81 by Morgan Prickett. Macey Pressley was their fourth.

Perhaps most impressive from their camp on the day was seventh-grader Hannah Dyar qualified as an individual after shooting 78.

“I’m very, very proud of her,” White Plains coach Marcus Harrell said. “To shoot 78 as a seventh-grader in the sectional is impressive. She’s a seventh-grader, but she hits the ball like a junior.”

White Plains boys win Limestone Springs sectional

ONEONTA – The White Plains boys ran away with their sectional championship, shooting 314 as a team and winning by 23 shots.

Dustin Travis, the Calhoun County boys champion and Oxford-Gadsden runner, was the individual runner-up after shooting 74. The Wildcats also got a 78 from Trevor Lane and 81s from Layton Bussey, Dylan Griggs and Drennen Beam. Nathan Gilbert qualified for sub-state as an individual after shooting 76.

Oxford qualifies at Cider Ridge

OXFORD – The hardest thing for Tyler Putnam to do with 210 yards into 18 was lay up, but it was the best thing for his team.

Oxford grabbed one of the final spots from its Class 6A sectional in large part because Putnam played smart down the stretch. The Yellow Jackets shot 342 as a team, tying Chilton County for third place.

Putnam shot 75 to tie for second individually with Pell City’s Nick Campbell. Caleb O’Toole of Pinson Valley was the medalist (73). The Jackets also counted an 83 from Joey Salonia, 89 from Will Turley and 95 from Jacob Vaughn. Caleb O’Toole of Pinson Valley was the medalist (73).

The Jackets were three shots clear of the cut. They appeared to be safely in until their players started leaking oil coming home, playing the last three holes in 15-over.

“It was really big for us to qualify as a team; it’s been a while,” Oxford coach Cale Wright said. “I went out between holes and told Tyler to play smart. He didn’t know what was in front of him, but he’s a smart enough player to know what’s going on.”

Under normal circumstances, with that favorable yardage, Putnam would’ve aggressively fired at the flag and challenged early. But the pin on 18 was in a front left location and the slightest error could’ve spelled disaster for the Jackets’ chances to advance.

He did the smart thing, laying up with a 7-iron and getting home safely.

“It was hard (not to go for it),” he said. “I stood there for a minute thinking about it, but I knew I had to play it smart, hit a mid-iron out there and give myself a good chance.

“The last few times I’ve played this course it is a whole lot easier to come into this hole from 100 yards and try to make a birdie that way; worse case scenario I make par. If I were to go for it worse-case scenario was double or triple depending on how bad I hit it. So I really had to play it back. But it was hard.”

Oxford’s Jeremy Allen qualified as an individual.

Donoho, PV, JCA qualify players at Silver Lakes

SILVER LAKES – Because of their limited sectional field, both of Donoho’s teams were guaranteed spots in the sub-state, but the Falcons still had to play – the girls Monday, the boys today.

The Falcons’ girls team finished third in the four-team competition. They shot 295, counting 98s from Madison Huckaby and Sarah Campbell and a 99 from Anna Marie Woodfin.

Jacksonville Christian’s Chloe Borders and Pleasant Valley’s Britton Proper and Madilyn Turner all qualified as individuals.