Palo Verde’s Haczkiewicz on Sunset roll

Centennial captures team crown; Penor, Coronado in Sunrise

Palo Verde’s Annick Haczkiewicz and Clark’s Riana Mission were deadlocked at 3-under after 27 holes of the two-day Class 4A Sunset Region tournament.

So on the back nine of the Bear’s Best golf course on Tuesday, it was time for the upperclassman to show her chops.

Haczkiewicz birdied four of the last nine holes, including 16 and 17, to pull away from the Chargers’ impressive freshman and win her third Sunset Region individual title.

“That’s what you see the great ones do,” Palo Verde coach Todd Steffenhagen said. “They just put it out of reach. … She’s the best I’ve ever coached.”

Haczkiewicz held onto her onestroke lead after day one, and finished the two-day event at 6-under-par 138.

She credited her 14-foot birdie putt on No. 16, and 8-foot birdie putt on No. 17, for giving her the added confidence to close out the match, winning by three shots over Mission (141).

“If I didn’t birdie 16 or 17, I only would’ve been winning by a shot,” Haczkiewicz said. “And coming into 18 would’ve been really nerve-wracking. So definitely having the extra two shots gave me a big confidence booster.”

Faith Lutheran’s Sydney Smith shot 1-under Tuesday and finished in third place at 148. Bishop Gorman’s Hunter Pate (149) and Palo Verde’s Rebecca Oertel (154) rounded out the top five. Centennial’s Mckenzi Hall (154) and Hailey Stevenson (155) placed sixth and seventh to help the Bulldogs claim their first region title.

Centennial finished at 649, ahead of Palo Verde (650), Bishop Gorman (334) and Clark (745).

Class 4A Sunrise Region

David Fish jokingly called the Class 4A Sunrise Region tournament “an extremely close race” inside the Bear’s Best clubhouse Tuesday.

The Southern Nevada Golf Coaches Association executive director got a nice laugh from everyone munching on their post-round snack.

No one questioned who the winner was.

That was all but decided at the beginning of the year, but didn’t become official until Tuesday afternoon.

Coronado finished with six of the top seven golfers, and ran away with its fifth consecutive region title after posting a two-day score of 43-overpar 619 — the best team score from either Class 4A region.

No other Sunrise team recorded a team score after missing the cut on the first day.

“The girls love each other and play for one another,” Coronado coach Joe Sawaia said. “That’s a big thing to try and develop chemistry in a individual, greedy kind of sport. Because that’s what it is. You can’t block anybody or pass it to anybody. You’re kind of playing your own thing. But these girls really look forward to the season after playing a long summer of individual golf.”

Sami Penor overcame a threestroke deficit from the first day to teammate Gabby Denunzio to claim her second region title.

The senior had two birdies and shot 1-under Tuesday at Bear’s Best to get the win. She finished 5-overpar 149, and was the only Sunrise Region golfer to go under on the second day.

“I’m a senior and this is my last regional,” Penor said. “So this is just kind of special.“

Penor converted the par 4 on hole No. 18, while Denunzio double-bogeyed for the final outcome. Denunzio was second at 151 — ahead of teammates Victoria Estrada (153) and Crystle Querol (166) — and Foothill’s Katie Schlichenmayer (176).

The team winners and Palo Verde and Gorman will meet in the Class 4A state tournament, which starts next week at Highland Falls.

Contact reporter Ashton Ferguson at aferguson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0430. Follow @af_ferguson on Twitter.