White Plains leads 4A-5A girls
- Updated: May 11, 2015
[corner-ad id=2]Wildcats leads county rival Alexandria by 9 heading in final round; WP, Donoho boys both third
White Plains’ Layne Dyar (R) and Jordan Gregoria (C) review their scorecards after their round Monday.
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
MOBILE – White Plains and Alexandria have been battling it out all year for girls golf supremacy in Calhoun County and now, some 300 miles from home, it all comes down to one day on the biggest stage of all.
The Wildcats and Valley Cubs are 1-2 after the first round of the ASHAA Class 4A-5A girls golf championship at Magnolia Grove. White Plains shot 229 as a team, nine shots better than Alexandria.
Only 18 holes separate the Wildcats from the first state championship in their school’s history.
“I’m really excited; that gives me chills thinking about it,” White Plains junior Layne Dyar said. “We’re two really good teams, coming from the same place, like 30 minutes down the road, so it’s really cool. It’s something you don’t see every day.
“We knew it was going to be us and them, and we had gotten so much better this season, a dream just became a reality.”
Dyar shot 2-over-par 74 to lead White Plains’ three scorers. Raegan Thompson shot 76 and Morgan Prickett shot 79. Seventh-grader Hannah Dyar completed the lineup.
Alexandria counted a 76 from defending state champion Jordan Gregoria, who was paired with Dyar, and 81s from Katie Roberts and Morgan Mayfield. Abby Stevens completed the lineup. Gregoria’s score reflected a two-shot penalty from playing from a wrong position on the second green.
Dyar’s round could have been even better. She had two double bogeys on the front (offsetting two birdies) and coming home missed a par putt from inside four feet on 15, lipped out a birdie putt on 16 and three-putted 18.
“I’m proud of all three of them because they all kept it together,” White Plains coach Marcus Harrell said of his team. “There were points in every one of their rounds today where they could have given up or lost focus or even got aggravated, but every one of them kept to the grind.
“I’m very, very proud of them for doing that. It shows a lot of maturity and lot of the things they’ve learned the past three years being together.”
This will be the sixth round the Wildcats and Valley Cubs will have battled it out this season. White Plains beat the Cubs by three shots at Chesley Oaks, 15 at the substate (behind Dyar’s 68) and by nine Monday. Alexandria won by seven at the Calhoun County Championship and by four in the sectional.
“The two teams have battled all year long, flip-flopped back and forth, and I think it’s very, very neat we get to battle for a state championship tomorrow,” Harrell said. “Most of the times when you have two teams that are rivals, you play once and you’re done. We’ve had multiple chances this year and now it all comes down to the big one.”
Valley Cubs coach Scott Ginn called the showdown “a classic rivalry.” His team put on a second-day charge to beat the Wildcats on their home course in the County Championship.
“It’s the sum of two days’ scores,” Ginn said.
“Everything from the beginning of the season just kind of pushed us to these two days; everything’s kind of built up to this,” Thompson said. “That’s what it’s all going to come down to, really.”
The Valley Cubs would have been two shots closer if not for what Gregoria called a “stupid mistake” on her part early in the round.
UMS-Wright’s Lauren Gilchrist asked Gregoria to move her mark off her putting line, but when it came time for her to putt she didn’t replace the mark and putted from the wrong spot. It was just an uncomfortable for Dyar to have to bring it to her attention.
“We just have to come out and play tomorrow and make up some strokes,” Gregoria said. “Don’t do anything stupid like I did.”
Class 1A-2A boys: Donoho caught behind buzzsaw
Donoho, playing in its first state golf final in eight years, were caught on a tough golf course and in a field with two more experienced teams.
The Falcons were a distant third (330) behind a St. Luke’s team that shot even-par 288 with two sub-70 rounds and Providence Christian that counted four rounds in the 70s.
“It’s kind of hard to compete when they’re shooting 3- and 4-under,” first-year Donoho coach Madison Williams said. “(Her team) haven’t had the experience, so this was pretty much what I expected. Those other two teams are really good. It’s tough when you get to this level.”
Jacob Lecroy had the Falcons’ low round of the day, a 75 that included a bounce-back eagle on the 16th. He holed out a 62-degree wedge from 43 yards after making double bogey on the previous hole.
“I was a little mad,” he said.
Class 4A-5A girls
Team scores
White Plains 229
Alexandria 238
UMS-Wright 279
Top 5 individuals
Hannah Sager, Ala. Christian 71
Karlee Allen, Northside 72
Layne Dyar, White Plains 74
Jordan Gregoria, Alexandria 76
Raegan Thompson, White Plains 76
Others
Morgan Prickett, White Plains 79
Katie Roberts, Alexandria 81
Morgan Mayfield, Alexandria 81
Abby Stevens, Alexandria 81
Hannah Dyar, White Plains 102
Class 4A boys
Team scores
Saint James 302
UMS-Wright 305
White Plains 314
Haleyville 342
Top 5 individuals
Brooks Rabren, Straughn 66
Walker Carr, St. James 69
Felix Ronderos, UMS-Wright 74
Dustin Travis, White Plains 75
Clint Phillips, Haleyville 76
Others
Drennen Beam, White Plains 77
Layton Bussey, White Plains 80
Dylan Griggs, White Plains 82
Trevor Lane, White Plains 85
Class 1A-2A boys
Team scores
St. Luke’s 288
Providence Christian 300
Donoho 330
Decatur Heritage 333
Top 5 individuals
Peyton Massey, St. Luke’s 68
Drew Mathews, St. Luke’s 69
Thomas Ponder, Prov Christian 70
John Hamn, Decatur Heritage 72
Noah Whittington, IV Blacksher 72
Others
Jacob Lecroy, Donoho 75
Ross Svensen, Donoho 78
Jack Svensen, Donoho 81
Robert Clausen, Donoho 96
John Hutto, Donoho 97
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