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By Andy States
Content Manager, SMAC
Last year, the North Point Eagles shocked the SMAC golf world by knocking off the then-undefeated La Plata Warriors when the teams met in the regular season.
Wednesday afternoon, in a regular-season finale against those same Warriors, North Point knocked La Plata from the ranks of the unbeaten again. Led by Michael Barnas’ 37, the Eagles defeated La Plata by five strokes at Potomac Ridge.
“We were real psyched going into today,” Barnas said. “We had some fuel in the fire with some of the articles. We were really psyched to beat them today.
“We didn’t play our best, but we played pretty well and the conditions were really tough. It was windy for probably the first half and the greens, I’ve played here since I was 7, and it was the fastest I’ve ever seen them.”
North Point (11-1) conquered the elements and the Warriors, who have been the state’s runner-up two years running and again stood as the conference favorite this season.
“They’re a better team today,” La Plata coach David Russell said. “They were a better team last year, that day. We’ll find out who’s the better team at White Plains for the SMAC title.”
McKenzie Cutter shot 39, Samuel Jackson 40 and Mitchell Buccelli and Eric Sawchak each carded 41s to produce North Point’s aggregate score of 157 and help the Eagles rebound from last week’s loss to Chopticon, which entered the regular season’s final day tied with North Point with one loss.
“We just came out here and tried to play our game,” Cutter said. “We didn’t really try to play them because we knew if we tried to play them we’d end up crashing and burning.
“It’s a big win for us to win again, two years in a row versus La Plata.”
La Plata (11-1), which as the state’s 4A/3A runner-up the past two seasons enters most every season with aspirations beyond SMAC competition, was paced by Kevin Bowen’s 39. Jay Dove shot 40, while Spencer Bowling carded a 41. Both Blaine Mastin and Danielle Wathen came in with 42s.
With the SMAC tournament at White Plains looming, La Plata could have cemented its status atop the conference with a win Wednesday. Instead, the disappointing showing on North Point’s home course leaves conference bragging rights to be determined at the conference tournament on Oct. 14.
“Guys didn’t play well,” Russell said of his team’s showing. “I saw a lot of mental errors, guys taking out drivers, hitting driver off tees they had no business hitting driver off of — just tactical mistakes, really.
“It’s back to the drawing board. We’ll practice and try to get better. Another lesson learned for these guys, I hope.”
Knocking La Plata off its perch was a necessity for North Point in order to keep its conference hopes alive. And while the previous week’s loss to Chopticon prevented North Point from securing a spot in the driver’s seat, it also helped to refocus the Eagles heading into the showdown with the Warriors.
“We were real down as a team. We had a bad bus ride back, pretty much,” Barnas said of the team’s letdown against Chopticon at Wicomico Shores. “We got fired up and knew we had to win today.”
“If we hadn’t given one away last week we’d be sitting on top,” said North Point coach Tony Jones. “That’s all right, we’re tied with [Chopticon and La Plata]. We’re one of the best three teams in the conference and my top six, none of them are seniors. You have to be excited about where we are and how well they’re playing and the level they’re playing at with the youth we have.”
As the overwhelming underdog a year ago, North Point beat La Plata but then faltered in the weeks following. La Plata won the SMAC and District 4 tournaments and eventually finished second in the state’s 4A/3A tournament. North Point’s season peaked in the regular-season win over the Warriors, though the Eagles did qualify for the 2A/1A state tournament. This year, the team hopes for improved results in the tournament season.
“I think last year we kind of got relaxed,” Barnas said. “We were so excited to beat [La Plata] because we were the underdog. We kind of got too lax in the postseason. Hopefully this year we can pull it out. We have to play our best game, for sure.”
There is reason to be optimistic, according Jones.
“Three of the four that were impact players today were here last year,” said Jones, whose program is in just its fourth year of existence. “You have that one more year of experience, one more year of tournament play and that just makes them that much stronger.
“You’re starting to get that confidence where it’s not like ‘I’m going to play my best and hope that we win.’ They’re starting to get that little bit of an edge where it’s, ‘OK, I’m ready to step up and may the best man win.'”
North Point 157, La Plata 162
North Point: Barnas 37, Cutter 39, Jackson 40, Buccelli 41, Sawchak 41
La Plata: Bowen 39, Dove 40, Bowling 41, Mastin 42, Wathen 42
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