Huskies get three-peat
- Updated: April 19, 2016
Hewitt-Trussville won its third straight Oxford-Gadsden Invitational title; Westbrook’s Catanzaro wins medalist
Westbrook Christian’s John Hilliard Catanzaro (R) gets some advice from coach Misti Fairchild as they wait for the 15th fairway to clear Tuesday. On the cover, Hewitt-Trussville displays another winner’s trophy from the Oxford-Gadsden Invitational.
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
OXFORD — Dawson Atkinson may be one of the youngest players on the team, but he was well aware of the history and the importance of keeping the streak alive.
For the third year in a row, Hewitt-Trussville walked away with the winner’s trophy in the Oxford-Gadsden Invitational. The Huskies shot 308 as a team Tuesday at Cider Ridge Golf Club to finish at 606, eight shots better than runner-up Westbrook Christian.
It was their second tournament victory of the season.
“It’s good to have a tournament that you can get your confidence in winning,” said Atkinson, a sophomore who didn’t play last year. “Wins build confidence and we want to carry that confidence in towards the end of the season. We want to keep it going towards state.”
Westbrook junior John Hilliard Catanzaro was low medalist after a second straight 72. He came from three shots back to start the day to edge first-round leader Atkinson and teammate Reed Love by two shots for his third straight win.
Love shot the low round of the day, a 1-under 71. He made six birdies, including three in a row after a 7 at the short par-4 seventh. The Huskies also counted a 77 from Atkinson, a 78 from No. 5 Zane Hood and an uncharacteristic 82 from Carden McCay, who is signing with CACC today.
“I thought for the most part all of them played well,” Huskies assistant coach Karen Johns said. “A couple of them struggled on the front nine and it would have been very easy to not be able to recover. I was really proud of them to fight through the adversity they were going through and finish strong.”
A key to the Huskies’ win was their play over the final six holes. They were a collective 2-over on holes 13 through 18, while Westbrook Christian played the closing stretch in 11-over. Their four counters played the stretch in 3-under.
“It gets later in the round and you realize if you don’t do something, you’ll come in with a higher number than you’d like and you try a little harder,” Atkinson said.
Catanzaro made six birdies in his round. He birdied three of his first five holes, then went bogey-birdie-bogey and turned in 2-under. He got it to 4-under through 16 holes, but finished double-bogey-bogey to finish even par for the day.
“After I got to about 3-under through five or six I thought it was going to be a pretty good round,” Catanzaro said. “I saw what my competitors were doing, so I thought I had it going very well … then on the last couple holes I had a few bad swings and the next thing you know I’m back to even par just like that.”
It has been a good season for him so far. He has won his last three high school tournaments and four overall counting an SJGT event at Hampton Cove, site of this year’s AHSAA Championship. His stroke average over his last seven competitive high school rounds is 70.3.
“My ball striking is probably the best it’s been in a while,” he said.
OXFORD-GADSDEN INVITATIONAL
Final scores
At Cider Ridge Golf Club
TEAM LEADERS
Hewitt-Trussville 298-308—606
Westbrook Christian 299-315—614
Bob Jones 313-330—643
Pell City 320-327—647
Oak Mountain 334-320—654
Chilton County 336-321—657
Central-Clay 328-341—669
Tuscaloosa County 329-346—675
Oxford 346-351—697
James Clemson 342-366—708
Thompson 364-364—728
Southside 364-375—739
Buckhorn 394-412—806
Hokes Bluff 406-411—817
Valley 424-485—909
Athens 319-NS
Clay-Chalkville 407-NS
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
x-John Hilliard Catanzaro, Westbrook Christian 72-72—144
x-Reed Love, Hewitt-Trussville 75-71—146
x-Dawson Atkinson, Hewitt-Trussville 69-77—146
x-Harrison Martin, Westbrook Christian 70-77—147
Reid Baggett, Athens 73-79—152
Tucker Wilder, Pell City 78-75—153
Will Phillips, Athens 74-80—154
Harrison Mink, Oak Mountain 77-77—154
William Wethington, Westbrook Christian 74-80—154
Austin Chandler, Bob Jones 74-81—155
x-All-Tournament Team
TEAM SCORES
HEWITT-TRUSSVILLE (606) – Dawson Atkinson 69-77–146, Carden McCay 77-82–159, Reed Love 75-71–146, Dylan Webb 77-88–165, Zane Hood 78-78–156.
WESTBROOK CHRISTIAN (614) – John Hilliard Catanzaro 72-72–144, Harrison Martin 70-77–147, William Wethington 74-80–154, Jackson Bowman 83-86–169, Jared Patterson 94-92–186, Boo Shirley 98-110–208.
BOB JONES (643) – Austin Chandler 74-81–155, Evan Shelton 80-79–159, Blake Batchelor 81-91–172, Andre Flores 78-79–157, Tyler Gibson 86-96—182.
PELL CITY (647) – Tucker Wilder 78-75–153, Logan Bowman 83-84–167, Sawyer Stice 77-89–166, Chris Edge 89-93–182, Tanner Wilder 82-79–161.
OAK MOUNTAIN (654) – Harrison Mink 77-77–154, Ben Rush 85-82–167, Ken Goforth 87-76–163, Jonathan Zaleski 85-85–170, Sam Easterling 96-94–190.
CHILTON COUNTY (657) – Cole Watley 7783–160, Trey Baker 89-79–168, Bailey Price 89-83–172, Boyd Price 81-78–159, Cole Headley 95-81–176.
CENTRAL-CLAY CO. (669) – Riley Sanford 84-83–167, Nick Watts 81-83–164, Peyton Davidson 81-88–169, Dawson Harry 82-87–169, Blair Bailey 96-91–187.
TUSCALOOSA COUNTY (675) – Bryant Raynowska 83-90–173, Nick Brown 84-80–164, Will Hannah 83-87–170, Coy Pate 79-89–168, Geoffrey Ledbetter 89-96–185.
OXFORD (697) – Will Turley 76-90–166, Jacob Vaughn 87-94–181, Jeremy Allen 91-80–171, Keaton Borelli 92-87–179, Jackson Fillingins 119-94–213.
JAMES CLEMONS (708) – Landon Miles 86-96–182, Hill McCrory 88-92–180, Saurav Acharya 83-89–172, Brock Cook 85-89–174, Brandon Slivey 104-96–200.
THOMPSON (728) – Noah Brakefield 88-88–176, T.J. Armstead 89-92–181, Logan Hudspeth 96-97–193, David Blair 100-87–187, Eli Mask 91-98–189.
SOUTHSIDE (739) – Luke Boyd 88-87–175, Devon Downs 97-102–199, Brock Lawley 88-105–193, Kaleb Yancy 91-81–172, John Mark Weaver 99-108–207.
BUCKHORN (806) – Billy Hooper 79-90–169, Dylan Tyree 101-97–198, Isaiah Leslie 100-100–200, Colten Brunhoeber 114-125–239.
HOKES BLUFF (817) – Cole Contris 113-107–220, Jeremy Black 96-99–195, Josh Jones 96-88–184, Pete Jackson 138-136–274, Matthew Jones 101-117–218.
VALLEY (909) – Jackson Blanks 87-96–183, Taylor McDonald 93, Nicolas Fulcher 115, Carson Bryant 133, Judson Garner 129, Brumfield 93-126–229.
ATHENS (319): Justin Vincent 86, Reid Baggett 73-79–152, Will Phillips 74-80–154, Freddy Leonard 86, Ryan Meeks 104-94–198.
CLAY-CHALKVILLE (407) – W. Turley 90, B. Robison 103, G. Hughes 93, J. Davis 121, M. Beck 137.
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