Margaretta girls win SBC Bay golf tournament

NORWALK — Ellyse Schaefer has been established for a while. The Margaretta senior etched her name further into the record books Monday. Schaefer fired an 18-hole school-record 78, helping the Polar Bears win the Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division team tournament at Eagle Creek Golf Course. "With all golf shots, I feel like I could have done better," said Schaefer, who committed to play collegiate basketball Sunday at Southeastern University in Florida. "I three-putted three holes and that's three shots I'd like to have back. I hit the ball overall pretty well." The previous school record was 83 by Jamie Opfer in 2022. "She knows she can do it," said Margaretta coach Christina Smith of Schaefer. "She's a competitor. She knows exactly what needs to get done. I'm get excited for her and her family to get their name in the record book." The Polar Bears won Monday with a team total of 386, beating out Edison by six strokes. Huron (424) took third while Vermilion (446), Port Clinton (460) and Willard (474) rounded out the field. The league tournament counts as double points in the season standings. For the full season, the Chargers won the team title with 38 points while the Polar Bears were second with 31. "Our season started off rough and rocky," Smith said. "The scores are coming down lower to where they need to be. We're clicking. I think the scores could have been even lower today. We struggled a little bit at the beginning of the day due to fog and dew on the greens. The greens were slow." Edison's Annabelle Seville was individual medalist with a 76. "Annabelle played like Annabelle plays," Chargers coach Shayne Fischer said. "She was 2-under at one point and probably a little disappointed it got away from her a bit. She double-bogeyed late and I told her she needed to focus and finish well. She did. That's something she struggled with last year. "It might have taken her three or four holes to get over last year, but that's the difference between her last year and this year." Ellaynah Schafer added a 92 for Margaretta while Jenae Farrell carded a 97. Cassidy Lane rounded out the Polar Bears' scoring with a 119. "The confidence part for my top four is where it needs to be," Smith said. "Our No. 5 and 6 struggled a little bit with higher scores, but weren't sad at all. They were motivated and excited for the team. We think we need to be about 385 to get out of sectionals and we shot a 386 today. The potential is there." The Chargers felt like they could have done better. "The girls wanted to go undefeated, but this is why you do the regular season and build that lead," Fischer said. "Hats off to Margaretta. A lot of their girls played well. Our girls played well, but not as well as we normally do." Leah Sharp added a 98 for the Chargers while Ella Rogers and Averi Wolf each carded 109 to round out the scoring for Edison. "We feel good about winning the conference title," Fischer said. "It's a long season. We went undefeated in the regular season in 9-hole matches. I'm very proud of our bottom girls. They've gotten better as the year has gone on. That was a big question mark coming into the season. We knew Annabelle and Leah were good players. We weren't sure about the younger girls." Ashytn Spooner topped Huron with an 87 while Lindsay Wainwright added a 92. Lillie Fox shot a 91 to lead Port Clinton. Allison Smith and Isabelle Smith each carded a 104 to top Vermilion. Team scores 1. Margaretta, 386; 2. Edison, 392; 3. Huron, 424; 4. Vermilion, 446; 5. Port Clinton, 460; 6. Willard, 474 Top 8 individuals 1. Annabelle Seville, Edison, 76; 2. Ellyse Schaefer, Margaretta, 78; 3. Ashtyn Spooner, Huron, 87; 4. Lillie Fox, Port Clinton, 91; 4. Reese Bedingfield, Willard, 91; 6. Lindsay Wainwright, Huron, 92; 6. Ellaynah Schaefer, Margaretta, 92; 8. Jenae Farrell, Margaretta, 97 Morris medalist for Polar Bears Margaretta senior Keiygan Morris has been looking for that win. In the boys SBC Bay tournament, Morris' 77 was best among individuals. "I was in a super competitive group with (Vermilion's) Adam (Gerber) and (Willard's) Mason (Dawson)," Morris said. "The round was a lot of fun because everybody competed. I definitely could have putted it a lot better, a few unforced errors here and there, but I was pleased with how I played." Morris' 77 was two shots better than Vermilion's Sam Riddle, who shot 79. Huron's Grant Humphrey and Gerber from Vermilion each carded an 80. "It means so much to me," Morris said. "I put a lot of hours into this game and seeing it pay off is always great. This was a big match too, because with winning, I now have a chance to sneak into SBC first team." Morris' round helped Margaretta finish third as a team with a total of 346. He has big goals ahead as the postseason ramps up next week. "If I can just tweak some things, especially with my driver, there's no reason I can't make a run into October," Morris said. "We have two more matches until everything really starts to matter, so just getting my swing and mind right is the focus right now." Willard won the team championship Monday with a 324. Vermilion was second with a 334 while Huron (350) took fourth, Edison (362) was fifth and Port Clinton (396) was sixth. In the season standings, the Crimson Flashes finished with 38 points while Vermilion was runner-up with 33. "It gets to be a rivalry throughout the year because it's a lot of the same kids you're seeing every time," Willard coach Jon Dawson said. "We've been grouped with Margaretta and Vermilion at a majority of the shootouts as the top three teams. The kids get used to playing with each other. Vermilion has really nice kids. It's fun to watch them go out and compete." Scoring for Willard was Mason Dawson and Adler Ames, who each shot an 81. Harrison Meisner — who turned to golf after a shoulder surgery kept him out of football — Kaleb Weaver and Jaxson Hall all tallied 82. "We had a feeling we could be pretty good, but you've got to go out there and do it," coach Dawson said. "Our first goal was to win the league championship. We got that done today. Now, we want to move on and get out of sectionals as a team. We have a fun group of kids to be around. I've been coaching a long time and it's a special group." Brady Myers added an 87 for Vermilion while Jackson Fahr shot 88. Julian Washington backed Morris' medalist round with an 88. Phinneus Headley ended with an 89 for Margaretta while Jaxson Bohn tallied a 92. Luke Barton shot an 84 for Huron while Paul Murray carded a 90. Owen Price topped Edison with an 84 while Hayden Lewis fired an 88. Carter Thompson was best for Port Clinton with a 91. Team scores 1. Willard, 326; 2. Vermilion, 334; 3. Margaretta, 346; 4. Huron, 350; 5. Edison, 362; 6. Port Clinton, 396 Top 10 individuals 1. Keiygan Morris, Margaretta, 77; 2. Sam Riddle, Vermilion, 79; 3. Grant Humphrey, Huron, 80; 3. Adam Gerber, Vermilion, 80; 5. Mason Dawson, Willard, 81; 5. Adler Ames, Willard, 81; 7. Harrison Meisner, Willard, 82; 7. Kaleb Weaver, Willard, 82; 7. Jaxon Hall, Willard, 82; 10. Isaac Frye, Willard, 83