KENDALLVILLE – The hot start to Justin Hicks' round didn't last, but the Leo senior golfer still took home individual medalist honors at the NE8 Championship for the first time on Saturday while the Lions stretched their conference tournament winning streak to three in a row.
"I started off really hot – I was like four or five under through my first six or seven holes, and then I made a mess out of the middle part of the round," said Hicks, who carded a 1-under-par 71 at Cobblestone Golf Course. "But I finished out strong with a birdie, was one-under on my last few."
Leo's three other scorers also shot in the 70s on Saturday (Caden Mathias shot 74, Hudson Hines 77 and Henry Nussbaum 78), giving the No. 13 Lions a team score of 300. Huntington North, which had both Javin Gray and Griffin Husband shoot 78, was second at 321. Columbia City, which was led by Kam Hoag's 72, was third at 326.
"On the back nine, we made a lot of pars, we just couldn't make any of the birdie putts," Leo coach Paul Newberg said. "The putters were not bad, but we just couldn't get anything to fall."
Newberg praised the Cobblestone grounds crew for the condition of the course after still more rain this week, but that didn't mean the course was easy to play on Saturday.
"They were not our friends today in terms of where they placed the pins. They had the course set up with the pins tucked in some difficult places, and I thought for the whole of the tournament all the kids handled it fairly well most of the time," Newberg said. "You couldn't attack some of those pins, and it made it so that you were constantly putting from 15 or 20 feet. But they kept at it and they stayed with it, they didn't try to put too much pressure."
Newberg said it was fun to watch Hicks, who tied for second at last year's state finals, over the first few holes on Saturday.
"He was 4-under through five holes, with a penalty stroke. He made birdie on a par-5 with a penalty stroke, that was fun to watch, and then he kind of tapered off," Newberg said. "He hit a bad wedge on nine and a bad chip on 14, but then everything else was solid, he just couldn't make any putts, and same with the other kids, too. They were starting to hit more greens, and we had looks at birdie, we just weren't hitting them in. We need to fine-tune some of those short-putting skills."
Hicks has already set the school record for a nine-hole round this spring with a 7-under 29, and he says that he could have another big performance in him.
"Lately I've just been making a few mistakes that have been keeping my rounds from being really good, but keeping it around par is never awful," Hicks said. "Just going into the postseason, I've got a lot of confidence, I'm feeling good. The birdies are there, I've just got to cut out the big numbers and mistakes."
The Lions will be back in Kendallville on May 31 for the East Noble Sectional, which will be held at Noble Hawk. Leo is also looking to three-peat in the sectional tournament and at regionals at Warsaw's Stonehenge Golf Course in June.
"We had senior night the other night, and we were talking about it. Justin Hicks said it doesn't even feel like senior night, because we still have – hopefully – half of our season left, it we were to make it all the way to the state finals," Newberg said. "We have work to do, but we're ready for the challenge."
East Noble's Caden Anderson, who led the Knights with a 76 on Saturday to finish fourth overall, is the defending East Noble Sectional medalist.
SAC Championship
Bishop Dwenger won the conference tournament for the 20th straight year at Brookwood Golf Course on Saturday – but it was close. The Saints won with a score of 309, beating Bishop Luers by just three strokes. Bishop Dwenger's James Lancia was the individual medalist after shooting an even-par 72, and his teammate Joey Hughes shot 74. Knights golfers claimed the next three spots as Alex Schenkel shot 77, Jax Mickley 80 and Xavier Chapin 81.
NLC Championship
Warsaw won the NLC Championship tournament at Meadow Valley Golf Course on Saturday with a season-best score of 311, beating runner-up Northridge by seven strokes. Warsaw's Austin Craig was the individual medalist with a score of 72, while his teammate Breckin Christner was second with a score of 73. Robbie Finlinson shot 81 and was the third Tigers player to earn All-NLC honors. Wawasee's Mason Shoemaker shot an 82, also earning all-conference honors, and the Warriors finished fourth with a team score of 352.
ACAC Championship
Adams Central won the conference tournament title at Celina Linx Golf Course with a score of 355 to beat South Adams by two strokes. Jay County was third with a score of 365 and Woodlan fourth at 366. Heritage's Jake Dalman was the individual medalist, carding an 80.
Big Blue Cup
No. 4 Homestead beat No. 15 Carroll 10.5-9.5 in the Big Blue Cup, a three-day event that concluded on Saturday. The Spartans led at the end of each day of competition.
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