At the end of a dominating season, Howard's girls golf team still managed to save their best for last on Tuesday at Willow Springs golf course.
Jacqueline Cherry led the way with an even-par round of 27 points on a day when the Lions ended up setting a new program record for team score in an 82-24 victory over River Hill. The victory completed an 11-0 regular season and secures the team its third straight county title.
"It's a great feeling to come out here and put up a program best, especially being the last match of the year for them together. To build upon everything from throughout the season and continually watch them amp up their game, it's been a lot of fun to watch," said Howard coach Joshua McGoun, who watched his team score in the 80s for the first time. "These girls really push each other and they have a bunch of fun too, which makes it even better."
Cherry, who finishes the regular season with the top scoring average in Howard County among girls golfers, says this group has become extremely close.
"We have really great chemistry and we've just pushed each other to practice more," she said. "This has definitely been our strongest team."
Against River Hill (8-3), Howard saw all four of its players score 17 points or more. Behind Cherry, Harper Lurie added 20 points, Alex Abrams had 18 and Logan Lurie posted 17.
Abby Green set the pace for River Hill in the loss with 14 points.
Cherry's day included a pair of bogeys and a pair of birdies. On her final hole, she sank a seven-foot putt for bogey that secured the even-par round.
"I just tried scoring on the holes that I could and then playing it safe on the other ones," she said. "I took some bogeys, but I also got some birdies to cancel them out which was good."
The rest of the team had their share of highlights as well, including Harper Lurie finishing her round with a nice par on the final hole.
In terms of building the program up to its current spot atop the county for a third-year running, McGoun says its been a fun ride.
"When I took over as a coach, I wanted to focus on discipline, excellence and enjoying the game," he said. "Golf is a great sport that is a lot of fun and I wanted the kids to never lose sight of that. Our program has come a long way over these last four years and it's because of the great student athletes we have on our team."
Howard 82, River Hill 24
Ho (11-0): Cherry 27, H. Lurie 20, Abrams 18, L. Lurie 17.
RH (8-3): Green 14, Lesho 10.
Other girls box scores:
Wilde Lake 25, Hammond 6
The Wildecats closed their regular season with the victory, getting strong rounds from both Lee Lee Sands (15 points) and Cameryn Battle (10). Battle's day included her first career birdie on the seventh hole and her point total on the day was a season high.
WL (6-5): Sands 15, Battle 10.
Ha (2-9): White 4, Tuckley 2.
Atholton 26, Oakland Mills 0
A (5-6): Belden 14, Wenderoth 6, Lechner 6.
OM (2-8-1): N/A.
Centennial 54, Mt. Hebron 4
C (10-1): Trojillo 21, Taylor 15, Fukuzawa 9, Park 9.
MH (4-7): Bodziak 3, Perna 1.
Marriotts Ridge 48, Reservoir 10
MR (9-2): McIlvain 22, Dorsch 14, Quinn 12.
Re (1-9-1): Smith 10.
Boys box scores:
River Hill 85, Howard 40
RH (10-1): Gold 25, Hickey 25, Burman 24, Mann 11.
Ho (8-3): McLamb 14, Goldberg 13, Maynor 8, Kassiri 5.
Centennial 81, Mt. Hebron 70
C (7-3-1): Sterenberg 24, Chaplain 22, Sams 21, Sanidas 14.
MH (6-5): Hall 23, Lloyd 22, Jung 20, Duten 5.
Atholton 52, Oakland Mills 39
A (5-5-1): Nguyen 21, Grimsley 15, Noah Chong 9, Nolan Chong 7.
OM (1-10): Fairbanks 20, Carroll 10, Clyde 6, Atkins 3.
Marriotts Ridge 64, Reservoir 61
MR (11-0): Polefrone 20, Kim 20, Stephens 18, Ryan Lee 6.
Re (4-7): Gigioli 21, Goron 16, Teodori 12, Raymond 12.
Hammond 43, Wilde Lake 43
Ha (2-8-1): McDonald 18, Sarich 14, Gaffere 8, Witt 3.
WL (2-8-1): Schneider 16, Wilson 10, Swanson 10, Tiffey 7.