MONT BELVIEU, Texas – Confidence didn’t melt into jitters when Strake Jesuit golf coach Larry Finke notified his charges that a nine-stroke turnaround had put them in first place in the final round of the Region III championships Thursday.

It morphed into a palpable electricity that catapulted the Crusaders into their first UIL state tournament.

Robert Mills shaved eight strokes from the first round to the second and Chris Lauinger improved by seven, sending Strake Jesuit to a three-shot victory against Memorial at Eagle Pointe Golf Club.

Strake Jesuit finished at 604. Memorial shot 607, sealing its fourth consecutive state appearance and preventing fourth-place Fort Bend Clements (618) from making its third straight state trip.

The state tournament is May 8 and 9 at Jimmy Clay Golf Course in Austin.

“Coach telling us we were in the lead got us more pumped up,” said Mills, a senior who shot 72 Thursday and completely shed any hangover from a less-than-desirable finish Wednesday. He was 6-over par to end that round but had two pars and three birdies to close Thursday.

Strake Jesuit had finished fourth at regionals each of the past three years.

Nicko Dodd shot 147 and Ben Thorseth 151 for the Crusaders. Mills finished at 152 and Lauinger at 159.

“We felt we had the talent. We knew we were close and this was a big goal of ours to get this. We could taste it,” Finke said. “We’re deep. Our No. 5 today has been third all year and our No. 4 guy today has been second for us. Everyone’s capable of shooting a low round. I’m happy how our guys responded (to adversity).”

Memorial’s Cory Whitsett was medalist for the second straight year, shooting 68 on the heels of a first-day 66.

Whitsett, a sophomore, finished tied for second at state last year but disputed it was a finish he’s thought much about.

“I have a lot of other things on my mind with the bigger tournaments I play,” he said. “I just have to play well for two days (at state). I hit the ball well here. I hit a lot of greens and I putted well. I put myself in a good position.”

Tyler Gann shot 151 for the Mustangs, followed by Jes Schneider (157), Lawrence Chang (162) and Kevin MacArthur (166).

“We played well but (Strake Jesuit) played real well,” Mustangs coach Cameron Sands said. “I’m happy for those guys. They’ve been close the last few years and I’m glad they made it.”

Defending state champion Blake Redmond, from Clements, shot 145 to clinch an individual berth.

Cinco Ranch fell three spots Thursday to finish seventh (649). Micah Hill shot 158 and Jimmy Elliott 162 for the Cougars.

Among area individual qualifiers, Stratford senior James Kwon shot 155. Cy-Fair’s Jordan Rumora shot 160 and Katy’s Trent Cassity – whose sister played as an individual in the girls regional here earlier this week – carded 168.

Complete team and individual results are listed below.
***
Region III boys championships
At Eagle Pointe, Mont Belvieu

TEAM SCORES: Strake Jesuit 604, Memorial A 607, Deer Park A 616, Fort Bend Clements 618, Clear Creek 643, Fort Bend Austin 648, Cinco Ranch 649, Kingwood A 649, Kingwood B 657, Memorial B 658, Katy Taylor 662, Cypress Falls 694, Clear Brook 694, Westside 731, Deer Park B 738, Lamar 743.

Medalist: Cory Whitsett (MEM A), 137.

Strake Jesuit scores: Nicko Dodd 147, Ben Thorseth 151, Robert Mills 152, Chris Lauinger 159, Garrett Velarde 161.

Other Memorial A scores: Tyler Gann 151, Jes Schneider 157, Lawrence Chang 162, Kevin MacArthur 166.

Cinco Ranch scores: Micah Hill 158, Jimmy Elliott 162, Kevin Westmoreland 164, Bubba Valadez 170, Kyle Bell 172.

Memorial B scores: Greg Rochna 161, Zach Goodwine 162, Brian Guarino 165, Jonathan Kokot 170, Greg Pipkin 173.

Katy Taylor scores: Kevin Vanden-Heuvel 152, Mike Veillette 165, Eric Redeker 171, Kevin Cho 174, Blake Turner 188.

Cypress Falls scores: Jack Swanson 162, Joseph Reynolds 164, Matt McGlothlin 165, Joshua Rosas 174, Jacob Pope 176.

Westside scores: Griffin Emerson 171, Robby Dill 179, Max Fanning 186, Ed Nguyen 195, Sean Riley 197.

Lamar scores: Tyler Lehman 173, Nick Nieto 176, John Noel 193, Andy Rachlin 205, Evan Pun 213.

Area individual scores: James Kwon (Stratford) 155, Jordan Rumora (Cy-Fair) 160, Trey Cassity (Katy) 168, Chris Patrick (Memorial) 169, Kurt Pantle (Cinco Ranch) 174, Bobby Heisler (Strake Jesuit) 192.

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