Helena, Pelham, Briarwood shine in Section golf tournament

Published 10:41 am Tuesday, May 2, 2023

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By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Managing Editor

TUSCALOOSA – It was an impressive day at Ol’ Colony Golf Course in Tuscaloosa on Monday, May 1, as members of the Briarwood, Helena and Pelham boys and girls golf teams all cemented their spots at the state tournament.

For Briarwood and Helena, the two schools will both be sending their full boys and girls teams, while Pelham had two girls and one boy also qualify for this year’s sub-state tournament.

None of the results, however, were more impressive than what the Helena girls were able to do, as the Huskies took home the Section 2 Championship with an aggregate team score of 275.

Not only that, they had the low medalist for the event with Abigail Cerwick shooting an 81 to claim the individual championship.

That played a key role in the team championship, while teammate Anna Cruce Johnson finished sixth in the tournament with a round of 95.

Beyond the Helena girls, the Briarwood girls had three girls finish inside the top 10 at the tournament, leading to a team score of 283.

That was good enough for the Lions to finish second at this year’s section tournament, just eight shots behind the Huskies.

Camille and Cariann Beatty were big reasons why Briarwood had that success thanks to the two finishing third and fourth in the standings. Camille bested Cariann by just three shots, shooting a 90, while Cariann finished with a 93.

Just beyond those two was Hannah Leeper, who finished ninth by shooting 100 on the number.

As for the Pelham girls, Millie McCormick and Aspen Godette both advanced to sub-state as individual qualifiers.

McCormick tied for fourth at the tournament, matching Cariann’s 93 with a 93 of her own to cement her spot at sub-state. Godette finished one spot outside of the top 10, shooting a 102 to finish 11th and take the third of four individual qualifying spots.

As for the boys tournament, none of the three local teams were able to walk away with a win, but Briarwood and Helena both finished high enough to qualify their teams for spots at sub-state.

The Lions did so by finishing second with an aggregate score of 310, which finished just seven shots behind Section 2 Champion Northridge.

Nathan Barnes was the highlight for Briarwood thanks to tying for low medalist honors with a round of 74.

Teammates Luke Philley and Sam Burns weren’t too much further behind, shooting equal rounds of 77 to finish in a tie for seventh with one another.

Briarwood added another strong finish from Will Burns, who finished in a tie for 11th with a round of 82, while Jake Scott added an 85 for the Lions, placing him in a tie for 15th.

As for Helena, the Huskies only had one finish inside the top 15, but the team posted a total of 346, which finished just ahead of Chilton County for third to earn a spot at sub-state.

Ethan Burnett was the highlight for the Huskies, tying with Scott in 15th thanks to a round of 85.

Pelham also added an individual qualifier at this year’s tournament with Kaden Parremore earning the second qualifying spot for individuals. He fired a round of 76 to finish in solo sixth, just two shots off the low-medalist score.