Youth served as Benton wins team championship

BRYANT — A quartet of underclassmen helped put an end to a lengthy state golf title drought for Benton.

Led by a gutsy outing from freshman Paxton Lane, the Panthers outlasted hard charges from defending champion Hot Springs Lakeside and Van Buren to win the Class 5A championship on Tuesday afternoon at Hurricane Golf Course in Bryant.

Lane, along with sophomores Mason McDaniel, Elias Payne and Maddox Davis, all shot 76 or lower for Benton, which finished with a 10-over 298 to capture its first state crown since winning back-toback titles in 2008-09.

“Oh man, it’s been a long time for us,” Benton Coach Mark Balisteri said. “With having a freshman and three sophomores as your top four scorers, you couldn’t ask for anything better. They’ve played good all year, and there’s been a lot of pressure on them.

“But out here on this course, they came out and played really well, and I’m extremely proud of them.”

Lane shot a team- best 1-over 73, McDaniel notched a 74, Payne blasted a 75 and Davis cracked a 76 for the Panthers. Eli Cowden, a senior, also had a banner day with an 83.

Lakeside, which won last year’s title, took home second place after shooting a 321. Van Buren, the 2021 runner-up, was third after firing a 323 while Little Rock Christian and Valley View each shot 327 to land in a tie for fourth.

While Benton pulled away to comfortably win the team title, the individual crown was much closer.

Maumelle’s Chase Tucker ripped a 2-under 70 to grab medalist honors. Little Rock Christian’s Hudson Seago ended two shots back for a 72 to nab second.

“I was hoping to shoot right around par or under,” Tucker said. “The greens on the course were rolling pretty good, though. So I just wanted to come out and put some good shots up.

“But [ winning] was my goal coming in so it was definitely a good feeling for me.”

Balisteri and his Panthers were feeling just as good afterwards as well.

With his teammates and a number of others looking on, the ninth-grade standout survived a thrilling, four-hole playoff with Van Buren’s Drew Griffiths to earn third-place honors.

“It’s relieving that’s for sure,” said Lane, who rolled in a 5-foot putt on his final shot on the last hole to win his duel with Griffiths. “That was a tough playoff. Had three pars, but to win on a bogey is insane. Usually, you wouldn’t think that would happen.”

Fortunately for Lane, it did, and his overall play was a big reason why Benton was able to wrestle the championship away from Lakeside. Balisteri mentioned that he believed if his team broke 300, they’d have a good chance of winning.

Turns out, the Panthers bettered that by two, and it was more than enough to hold off the field.

“The course plays hard,” he explained. “It’s fast, it’s dry so I felt like there may be some higher scores [Tuesday], and there was. But to shoot 298, that’s pretty good.”

Lane