Headed to state
- Updated: May 6, 2021
White Plains boys, girls win substate to earn spots in Mobile, Alexandria girls will join them; Okins, Ray respective medalists
By East Alabama Sports Today
SILVER LAKES – Chris Randall thought his White Plains boys golf team had a “really good chance” to win a state championship last season, but then COVID-19 hit and all the Wildcats were left with was a lot of might-have-beens.
The mission this year was to make it back and make up for whatever might have been lost.
The Wildcats will get one last shot at glory next week in Mobile after winning the Class 4A Boys North Substate at Silver Lakes Thursday. They shot a team 304 and won by eight shots over Deshler.
“We felt like we had a really good chance to win last year with Andrew Miller being our captain and No. 1,” Randall said. “We’ve got all these guys back. It’d be really special to be able to finish it off.
“This group has been together a long time. They’ve grown up together at Pine Hill since they were little fellas. It’s their last chance to win it and the guys are hungry and excited about the opportunity. We want to go down there and finish what we started.”
White Plains’ Kenny Okins was medalist with a 3-under-par 69 a day after he shot 74 on a longer version of the course in U.S. Open qualifying. He had five birdies and two bogeys and won by one shot over Deshler’s Luke Linley.
The Wildcats also counted 78s from Gage Miller and Peyton Bradley and a 79 from Sawyer Edwards. Wesley Jenkins shot 80, not a bad score, but not to White Plains’ standards.
“The goal is not count one in the 80s and we were able to do that,” Randall said. “We felt like we left some shots out there. We’re just trying to keep grinding and survive and advance.”
The Wildcats will be going to the state for the seventh time in the last eight years they’ve staged the competition.
The 4A-5A girls sub-state was a real shootout with White Plains edging county rival Alexandria by two shots, 266-268.
Alexandria’s Emma Ray was medalist at 83. The Lady Cubs also counted an 87 from Lauren Sechrest and a 98 from Reagan Finley. White Plains counted an 86 from Abby Gattis, an 89 from Baylie Webb and a 91 from Isabel Rogers.
“The key for us has been Isabel Rogers in the 3 spot all year long,” Randall said. “In most of them our two cancel out and Isabel wins the 3 spot. She did it again. She came up clutch and did it again. I’m really proud of the year she’s having.”
The trip to the finals will be the White Plains girls fifth since 2015. It’ll be Alexandria’s first since 2015 – the last time it was played at Magnolia Grove, the RTJ Trail’s facility in Mobile.
“I couldn’t be more excited and happier for the girls because I know the work they’ve put in,” Alexandria coach Craig Kiker said. “What’s funny about our girls is they all started playing golf on the exact same day. Their ninth-grade year the exact same day in September they decided they were going to play.”
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