MONT BELVIEU, Texas – Cinco Ranch golf coach Rick Nordstrom huddled with two of his sophomores Tuesday afternoon shortly after the Region III championships ended.

Nordstrom reassured them through tears that this year was a building experience as much as anything, but it didn’t erase the Cougars’ disappointment in losing a grip on a berth in the state tournament.

Tied with Clear Lake for second-place after the first round, Cinco Ranch faltered Tuesday and finished fifth at Eagle Pointe Golf Club. The Cougars shot 703; winner Fort Bend Clements finished at 635.

“We’re all disappointed … but it was a great run,” said Nordstrom, whose team made its fourth regional appearance. “This golf course is up-and-down and some holes you’re gonna be disappointed about a shot and (at) others you’ll be ecstatic.”

Dina O’Brien shot 84 in the second round after a 77 Monday to finish at 17-over 161. The team’s other senior, Ellie McKinley, shot 23-over 167.

Complete team scores and results are listed below.

“Those younger players (Cinco has four sophomores) will learn from this,” Nordstrom said. “This golf course can be hard to play if you don’t have the experience.”

Riding balanced scoring from a team mixed with veterans and up-and-comers, Clements ran away to the team title, finishing 53 shots ahead of runner-up Clear Creek.

Clements earned its championship with an even team of two seniors, two juniors and one sophomore. The entire team doused themselves with Sprites after lead golfer Katie Cardno finished the last hole.

The sophomore, Portland Rosen, led Clements with a medalist round of 12-over 156. Cardno shot 157 and placed second, Maggie Ray carded a 160 and Brittany Butler 162.

“We don’t have a bad player on this team. We’re all pretty even,” Rosen said. “We thought we could contend (for state) but we never got our hopes up. We kept believing, then we won some tournaments in a row and then we started to think we could do it.”

Mayde Creek sophomore Jenny Kang, who shot only 35 on the front nine Monday and finished at 1-over 73, got off to a rough start Tuesday and shot 89 to finish at 18-over 162.

“Everything blew up today and she never regained her composure,” Mayde Creek coach John Butterfield said. “She started with a bogey, a double-bogey and then had three straight pars and then the wheels came off. I knew she had the talent to get here and contend. She just had to put two solid rounds together.”

Among other individual qualifiers, Stratford’s Jennifer Hardy shot 168 and Jersey Village’s Audrey Koncaba finished with a 170.

Paced by Taylor Sloane’s 11-shot improvement from Monday, Cypress Woods finished sixth. Sloane shot 80, Casey Gilbert 83 and Emily Franco 85 on Tuesday for the Wildcats, who shot 709 as a team.

Sarah Blair shot 173 and Brianna Herrmann 177 to pace Katy Taylor to an eighth-place finish (735).
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Region III girls championships
at Eagle Pointe, Mont Belvieu

TEAM SCORES: Fort Bend Clements 635, Clear Creek 688, Clear Lake 690, Kingwood 697, Cinco Ranch 703, Cypress Woods 709, Deer Park 725, Katy Taylor 735, La Porte 761, Fort Bend Dulles 774, Memorial A 778, Cypress Falls 807, Atascocita 819, Memorial B 892, Lamar 941.

Cinco Ranch scores: Dina O’Brien 161, Ellie McKinley 167, Kristen Lauritano 184, Alyssa Pantle 191, Caroline Wood 203.

Cypress Woods scores: Taylor Sloane 171, Emily Franco 178, Casey Gilbert 179, Jordan Sloane 181, Lauren Vermaas 208.

Katy Taylor scores: Sarah Blair 173, Brianna Herrmann 177, Valerie House 185, Catherine Andrews 200, Stephanie Strait 213.

Memorial A scores: Kathleen Wahl 191, Kelsey Pipitone 191, Rachel Wegenhoft 198, Katherine Compton 198.

Cypress Falls scores: Avery Seale 183, Jordan Hopper 205, Ashton Grieger 206, Katie Hile 213, Sofia Klepper 225.

Memorial B scores: Grace Lee 211, Alexa Junek 220, Jennifer Kauffman 227, Mia Berryman 234.

Lamar scores: Danielle Soltero 193, Carey Cooper 242, Emily Pun 252, Laura Fleming 256, Lauren Bell 263.

Other individual scores: Jenny Kang (Mayde Creek) 162, Jennifer Hardy (Stratford) 168, Audrey Koncaba (Jersey Village) 170, Stacy Leonard (Bellaire) 181, Taylor Sprague (Cy-Fair) 181, Caitlin Cassity (Katy) 187, Evin Walker (Westside) 196.

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