It's early, just four matches into the season for most teams, but the Glenelg boys have officially put themselves in the driver's seat.
Tuesday at Cattail Creek country club, in a match-up of the last two undefeated county teams, the Gladiators cruised past Wilde Lake, 93-76, to take sole possession of first place in the standings. It was the third time out of four this season that Glenelg (4-0) has eclipsed 90 points and it helped offset a 29-point (two-under-par) day from Wilde Lake (4-1) junior Tyler Silberberg.
"I was a little worried coming in, having not played in a week and a half because of the rain, but I couldn't have been happier with our performance," Glenelg coach Chris Beil said. "Top to bottom, the guys were focused and came to play today."
Freshman Steven Segrist led the Gladiator charge, bouncing back from a slow start to score a team-high 26 points. But it was the team's depth, having all four players score 22 or more, that ultimately led to the blowout victory.
Adam Leake had 23 points, while Greg Leake and Matt Forester finished with 22 apiece. In the second pairing, the Leake brothers outscored Wilde Lake's duo of Rafey Iqbal (18 points) and Matt Shin (14) by 13.
"Charlie (Harrison), our normal fourth guy, was sick today, but Greg stepped up and filled in really nicely," Beil said. "Having that kind of depth definitely helps."
Segrist started out with bogeys on three of his first five holes, but turned things around with a great approach on the par 4 sixth hole to set up a birdie. From there, he finished with two pars and another birdie.
"Sometimes one good shot leads to more good shots and I think that's what happened," Segrist said. "My irons weren't very good today, but I hit a good one there (on six) and it helped me finish strong."
Forester's round was highlighted by an eagle on the par 5 seventh hole.
No one, however, played better than Silberberg. The Wildecats' junior came into the day with the county's best scoring average (27 points) and lived up to the billing.
He made three birdies, offset by just one bogey, and finished two-under for the day.
Ultimately, though, Glenelg's supporting cast was just a little better. With David Yancich putting up 15 points alongside Silberberg in the first group, defending county-champion Wilde Lake was in a hole it couldn't dig itself out of.
"That's the thing about golf, one person can only do so much. It's four players and they all have to play well in order for you to win, especially against the good teams," Silberberg said. "Today just wasn't our day and sometimes that happens. I still believe in these guys."
Glenelg still has some tests left on the schedule, but one big hurdle is certainly out of the way.
"This is just one step, the Marriotts Ridge match will be another. This is definitely a big one, though," Beil said. "Right now, mentally, we are sitting pretty."
Glenelg 93, Wilde Lake 76
G (4-0): Segrist 26, A. Leake 23, G. Leake 22, Forester 22.
WL (4-1): Silberberg 29, Iqbal 18, Yancich 15, Shin 14.
Marriotts Ridge 93, Howard 81
MR (2-1): Yoo 28, Park 23, M. Dorsch 22, J. Dorsch 20.
Ho (2-3): Andrews 24, Park 22, Reid 19, Song 16.
Atholton 72, Mt. Hebron 59
A (4-2): Wallace 21, Robinson 18, Potter 18, Wolf 15.
MH (0-3): Marino 18, Montgomery 17, Mohilchock 13, Sherman 11.
River Hill 75, Hammond 46
RH (2-2): Ko 21, Karas 21, Gold 19, Gray 14.
Ha (1-3): Kopnitsky 17, Creighton 17, Stanton 11, Mitchell 1.
Centennial 55, Long Reach 15
C (3-1): Flach 22, McShane 16, McAnallen 13, Cherry 4.
LR (0-4): Tafuri 9, Appler 6.
Centennial 76, Atholton 67 (Monday)
Playing on a Fairway Hills golf course still soaked from last week's rain, the Eagles picked up an important victory over the Raiders. Conner Flach led the way for Centennial with a round of 25 points, including birdies on his first and ninth holes.
Matt McShane and Mike Humphrey also chipped in with 20 points apiece for an Eagles team that won its third straight after losing to Wilde Lake to start the season.
"We certainly haven't peaked yet and you can see us getting better every practice and that's coming over into the matches," Flach said. "I hate losing, we had enough of that last year, and we've definitely made a lot of improvements. I like this team and where we're headed."
In the loss, Atholton was led by 20 points apiece from Garrett Wallace and Steven Wolf.
C: Flach 25, McShane 20, Humphrey 20, McAnallen 11.
A: Wallace 20, Wolf 20, Robinson 16, Potter 11.
Wilde Lake 81, Hammond 34 (Monday)
WL: Silberberg 27, Iqbal 23, Yancich 17, Boccher 14.
Ha: Kopnitsky 13, Stanton 10, Creighton 9, Mitchell 2.
Girls
Marriotts Ridge 59, Howard 30
MR (3-0): Lee 23, Davey 17, Biegel 14, Kim 5.
Ho (2-2-1): Higgins 15, Song 12, Iazaga 3.
Atholton 59, Mt. Hebron 24
A (5-1): Nguyen 28, Fields 14, Peterson 10, Tae 7.
MH (1-2): Baker 15, Needham 5, Savage 2, Kelliher 2.
Glenelg 23, Wilde Lake 5
G (2-2): Hong 8, Castro 5, Cho 5, Frost 5.
WL (0-5): Teachman 5.
Centennial 37, Long Reach 35
C (2-2): McShane 20, Kuan 16, Kim 1.
LR (3-1): Lee 21, Sample 10, Caspar 4.
River Hill 42, Hammond 7
RH (4-0): Dial 18, Feldblum 10, Rosnik 8, Damschroder 6.
Ha (1-3): N/A 7.
Atholton 50, Centennial 31 (Monday)
A: Nguyen 27, Fields 10, Peterson 9, Tae 4.
C: McShane 12, Kuan 12, Kim 4, Wojanowski 3.
Hammond 6, Wilde Lake 4 (Monday)