CdA boys in the hunt for State 5A title

The Coeur d’Alene High boys are within striking distance of a sixth state championship after first-round play Monday in the State 5A tournament at the Lewiston Country Club.

The Vikings shot 300 and trail Twin Falls by seven strokes going into the final round today. Eagle (305) and Highland (306) are in third and fourth, respectively. Host Lewiston (314) is out of the chase for a state title, but probably still has a chance for a trophy.

Coeur d’Alene junior Tyler Johnson is in a three-way tie for first in the chase for medalist honors. Johnson, Derek McDowell of Twin Falls and Beni Bosen of Highland each fired 1-under-par 71s.

“We’re in the hunt,” CdA coach Bryan Duncan said. “We left a lot of putts out there. We didn’t putt that well. That’s what separated us from Twin.”

Johnson, who made 14 of 18 greens in regulation, shot 1 under on the front and even on the back.

“I didn’t give myself too many birdie opportunities,” Johnson said. “I’m going to try to do better with that (today). I was hitting my drives pretty well, but I could have done better on my approach shots.”

Johnson thought he could have shot in the high 60s.

“I left a couple of shots out there, but you usually don’t have a round go by that you don’t feel that way,” Johnson said.

Johnson sees the medalist shooting in the 60s today.

“I didn’t birdie any of the par 5s,” he said. “If I’d done a little better on those I would have been in the 60s.”

All the Viks shot in the 70s. Senior Ryan Erickson and junior Taylor Porter each shot 76, junior Cody Mee had a 77 and junior Kyler Gable a 79. The lowest four of a team’s five scores account for the team score.

“We’re going to have to play our best to overtake Twin Falls,” Duncan said. “They have a quality program. But seven strokes is not insurmountable.”

For the Viks to close the gap, they must make some putts, Duncan said.

“We couldn’t make any putts of distance,” Duncan said. “We averaged about 33 putts per kid.”

Twin Falls’ girls, meanwhile, built a big first-day lead, shooting 327. Defending champ Timberline is next at 339. The rest of the teams are well back. Lewiston is tied for fourth at 376 and CdA is sixth at 385.

A pair of Timberline players, Carissa Simmons and Ali Thompson, are tied for first after they shot 4-over 76s. Post Falls sophomore Genna Dodge is six strokes back and tied for fourth.

Dodge got off to a bogey-double bogey-bogey start. But she played the final six holes of her first nine in even par. On the back nine, she started slow again with a double bogey, bogey and bogey before playing the final four holes 1 under.

“It was kind of an inconsistent day,” Dodge said. “Mentally, I felt like I could shoot easily in the low 70s. I wasn’t rewarded for my good shots, and when I messed up I had a tough comeback shot. When you make a bad shot on this course it usually doesn’t turn out very good.”

Dodge is excited about today’s final round.

“I’m ready,” she said. “I think I’m capable of coming back. I need to think about my own game and not worry about the other girls. I need to just play the course. My goal is to be in the top five and I’m right there.”

PF coach Jeff Hinz applauded Dodge for not letting the round get away after difficult starts on both sides.

“I thought she played solid,” Hinz said. “Her goal was to be in the mix for the second day and she’s definitely there.”

Amanda Wemple led CdA’s girls with a 93 and Allyssa Nilsson led Lewiston with an 84.

The top four teams earn trophies and the top 10 individuals earn medals at each state tourney.

•At the State 4A tournament, Moscow sophomore Chris Williams, the defending state medalist, shot a 71 for a three-stroke lead at the University of Idaho Golf Course.

Pocatello’s boys are in first with 316, followed by Century (322) and Middleton (325). Moscow (333) is fifth and Sandpoint (334), which was led by Wyatt Pearson’s 78, is sixth.

For the girls, defending champ Bishop Kelly all but locked up a third straight championship by shooting 324 – 64 strokes better than second-place Jerome. Moscow (411) is in fourth.

Katie Skinner of BK shot 73 and has a seven-stroke lead over teammate Maddie Sheils.

•At the State 3A tournament, Shelley’s boys and girls cruised to big first-day leads at the Prairie Falls Golf Club in Post Falls.

Shelley’s boys and girls are the defending state champs. The Shelley boys shot 303, giving them an 11-stroke lead over Fruitland. Shelley’s girls posted 365, 56 shots better than runner-up Weiser. Kellogg is in fourth (433) and guaranteed a trophy since just the top four teams advance to the second round.

The low round for the boys was a 1-over 71 by Tanner Highman of Shelley. He leads his brother, Tommy, the defending boys state medalist, by three. Shayla Bitter, the defending girls state medalist, shot an 11-over 82 and leads by four over her sister, Sheryl.

The Kellogg (345), Bonners Ferry (354) and St. Maries (398) boys missed the cut as did the St. Maries girls (516).

Kelsey Harden led Kellogg’s girls with a 99. Shelby Hatfield had the low round for Priest River with a 90.

•At the State 2A tournament, Soda Spring’s boys, the defending champs, shot a 351 and have a slim lead over Nampa Christian (353) and Wallace (355) after the first day at the Orofino Country Club.

In the girls, defending champ Wendell shot 398 and lead second-place Nampa Christian by 16. Wallace (426) is in third.

Mike Slegers of Nampa Christian shot the best boys round, a 5-over 75. Dayne Evenson of Wallace (81) is in third.

In the girls, Jaci Lancaster of Wendell had a 9-over 83. Cara Hayman of Wallace is second at 85.