It’s up for grabs

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It’s up for grabs

Sports

Friday, 07 October 2011 12:05

News-Gazette Photo/Andrew Sullivan

Liberty’s Adawale King watches his shot during a recent match against Osceola at the Kissimmee Golf Club.

Coaches say there is no favorite when teams meet Monday

By Ken Jackson
Sports Writer
The only thing to say in predicting Monday’s Orange Belt Conference golf tournaments is this:
All the coaches are excited. Or nervous.

Both the boys and girls championships should be wide-open affairs in both the team and individual competitions. The boys tee off beginning at 9:30 a.m. at Royal St. Cloud Golf Links, and the girls start at 11:30 a.m. at Kissimmee Bay Country Club.
Osceola’s boys and Celebration’s girls are the defending champions, but neither team is in a position to be overconfident.
“It will be a dogfight,” OHS boys coach George Coffey said. “You can throw a blanket over four teams and their No. 1’s.”
Osceola, Harmony, Celebration and St. Cloud all bring deep squads into Monday’s boys tournament. Longhorns Coach Jerry Piester said the team that can score on the greens will hold an advantage.
“Whoever has the hot putter,” he said. “We had matches this week which could tell who is hot before Monday.”
That might be Harmony, who defeated Osceola, 162-181, on Tuesday, as Tyler Howes’ 37 led all players for Harmony. Angelo Chiarelli shot 39 for Osceola. Those two, as well as St. Cloud’s Caleb Sibley, Clark Feeney, of Poinciana, and Grafton Mouen, of Celebration, will be among a group that should fight for the individual title, CHS Coach Mike Pagano said.
“I’m leaving some quality golfers out, but that just goes to show how competitive the individual scores should be this year,” he said.
Harmony defeated Celebration, 161-187, at Harmony on Wednesday.
On the girls side, Celebration’s Natalie Benetti and Lauren Adhav return after finishing first and third individually last year and helping the Storm win by 43 strokes over Osceola. They, too, have company in the individual title discussion.
Harmony’s Lauren Bishop, Liberty freshman Alice Munn, St. Cloud’s Shelby Kessler and Erika Dukes and Osceola’s Charlie Muzeka and Kiera Koroitamudu will all tee it up with the chance of winning.
How bunched up is the team race among Osceola, St. Cloud, Harmony and Celebration? The Kowgirls shot 198 in back-to-back tri-matches at Kissimmee Golf Club last week. Harmony defeated Celebration, 203-207, Tuesday at Harmony Golf Preserve, the same day St. Cloud shot 203 to beat Liberty. Benetti shot 41, Kessler 44 and Harmony’s Megan Wetzel carded 46.
Ask a coach who the favorite is and they’ll point to a different group of girls.
“St. Cloud has shot the best scores against us consistently,” Celebration Coach Dan Caughman said. “If you had to pick a favorite, it might be them. Don’t forget about Harmony. They played very well (Tuesday) in our match.”
Osceola Coach Ray Lackey said all four teams have a legit shot at the crown this year.
“St. Cloud is probably the inside favorite. They could place four on the all-conference squad and win it all,” he said. “If Celebration plays well they can repeat, with us and Harmony chasing. But, who will play well Monday? That is the question.”
The OBC tournament is a postseason preview of the 2A District 17 tournaments on Oct. 17. The boys will play at Royal St. Cloud and the girls hit Suntree Country Club in Viera.