Center Grove’s boys golf team is back to doing what it usually does come state tournament time — winning.
Led by a 2-under-par 70 from medalist Alex Heck, the Trojans put up a team score of 293 to take top honors at the Whiteland Sectional, which was played Monday at The Legends.
It was the seventh straight sectional crown for the Trojans, who defeated runner-up Roncalli by five strokes.
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“I’m proud of how the kids played,” Center Grove coach Matt Rodman said. “They played as a team and fought hard today. A couple got off to a rough start, not what they wanted, but they fought back.”
The real drama came with the battle for third place and the final team big to Thursday’s regional at Champions Pointe in Henryville. In the end, it was the host Warriors that emerged via tiebreak, earning what is believed to be the first boys regional appearance in school history.
Whiteland’s team score of 322 matched Franklin’s, but the Warriors’ fifth score — a 90 from Max Pressler — was good enough to give them the edge.
Even after edging Franklin, Whiteland still had to wait and see if its score would hold up against Greenwood, which was still on the course. The Woodmen, though, came up a little short, finishing with a 327 to place sixth, two shots behind Perry Meridian.
Greenwood Christian (367) and Indian Creek (379) wound up eighth and ninth, respectively, while Edinburgh (447) was 13th.
The 70 from Heck led a balanced Center Grove effort that also featured rounds of 73 from Luke DeHaven and Peyton Short as well as 77s from Mitchel Sanders and Caleb Tidd.
Heck, who credited his putter with allowing him to finish the day well, said that having a deep and balanced lineup backing him up helps to alleviate some of the stress on the course.
“Knowing that the guys in front of me, behind me are playing good, it definitely takes a lot of the pressure off,” he said.
“The depth and the trust on the team definitely helps each individual,” Rodman agreed. “Because it allows us just to go out there and play one stroke at a time and not worry if we have a bad shot here or there, because we have four other guys that are going to pick us up.”
Whiteland was also solid all the way through, with Will Davis’ 75 leading the way. Also scoring for the Warriors were Jacob Johnson (79), Zach Ricketts (80) and Walt Brady (88).
Dan Gibson, in his final season as the Warriors’ coach, was beaming with pride after his team’s historic round, which also broke the school record by one shot.
“I’m real proud of the guys; they’ve worked hard all year,” he said. “We kind of set some goals starting the season, and I’ve been pushing them hard. We got fortunate enough today to get a couple of breaks, and I’m really proud of where we’re at.
“I knew we had a chance if we played well.”
Though they came up short of advancing as teams, both Franklin and Greenwood will still be represented at the regional. Both Damon Dickey (73) and Quin Edwards (76) made it out for the Grizzly Cubs, and freshman Jackson Watkins (75) moves on for the Woodmen.
The spotlight on Thursday, though, again figures to be on the Trojans, who will be trying to become the first team in state history to win five consecutive regional championships.
Rodman feels good about his team’s prospects.
“I think if we play the way we’re supposed to, then we should have a favorable result,” he said. “But the competition will be good — Floyd Central, Columbus North, the Bloomington schools have good golf programs, so we have to play as well as we can.”
