It’s been one of those years in the Jefferson District where it’s all been up for grabs.
Before the tournament began, the only given was that Western Albemarle was headed back to the Region II tournament by virtue of winning the regular season title. With just one bid left going into the JD tournament Thursday at Lake Monticello, it would have been next to impossible to have a more dramatic finish with Charlottesville, Louisa County and Powhatan all putting their best foot forward to advance to the next round. In the end, the Black Knights came away from Palmyra as tournament champions, winners by just two strokes at 321 over the Indians (323) who were just one ahead of the third place Lions (324).
“It’s been a long time for us,” said Charlottesville coach Richard Engle. “I’ve been with the program since 1992 and these kids had a great season and it paid off today because they came through.”
With Phillip Hoffman and Ben Perkins each shooting 78’s to lead the way, senior Rob Bergland was able to give the Black Knights a third outstanding score with his 80.
“It’s just really great to regionals with my team, I’ve been missing them the last few years,” Bergland said. “It’s good to get through and it feels really good to do this for Coach. He’s been here for decades and never been there with the whole team. This is really important to all of us.”
But from there, Charlottesville had to wait for its freshman, Northington Banks to finish for their fourth score. The newcomer did not disappoint and his 85 wound up keeping the Black Knights one shot ahead of Powhatan to lock up the final Region II berth.
“We were hoping we could win the whole thing but it all depended on the fourth man,” Engle said. “The fourth man, (Northington) he came up big today. When we did our practice round the other day we came in fifth and the difference between first and fifth was four strokes. So we knew it would be close.”
Western finished fifth shooting a total of 342, but with its Region II berth already secured, the Warriors can look forward to getting back to Front Royal, the site where they won the Group AA title last year. While it was a tough day on the course for Western for the most part, Kent Miller still managed to shoot at 75 to take medalist and JD player of the year honors.
“We really focused on clinching the regular season on Monday so that we didn’t have to worry about having a bad day in the district tournament, which unfortunately we did,” said Warriors coach Darren Maynard. “Kent’s had a great year and just been really key for us every time.”
Just two strokes back of CHS, Powhatan was unable to move on as a team but will send Noah Bradshaw and Brandon Harring to the next round as they both shot 79s and were two of the six to move on as individuals.
Louisa was one back of Powhatan. The Lions were led by Brady Noland who shot a 76 to post the second best score of the day to qualify for the Region II tourney. He will be joined by teammate Ryan Seay who finished with a 77, the third best score.
Monticello finished fourth at 337. Robert Deane’s 81 allowed him to qualify for next week. Teammate Ryan Pace also qualified but had to do so by winning a playoff against Powhatan’s Nick Furbee after the two tied for the sixth individual score at 82. It took two holes for Pace to gain the edge as both golfers struggled on the first hole. Pace knocked in a 12-foot putt to advance.
Both Charlottesville and Western head to Front Royal next week for the Region II tournament. Two teams from the region can advance to the Group AA championship.
