On a day when nothing came easy for Sacred Heart’s golfers, they still persevered.

Thanks to their depth and experience — not to mention a 13-shot lead heading into the second round — the Knights held off a furious charge from Syracuse on Wednesday at Winfield’s Quail Ridge Golf Course to capture their record 11th straight Class 2A state championship.

Head coach Patrick Newell

“We played well enough yesterday that we could have an average round today,” Sacred coach Patrick Newell said of the Knights’ score of 310 on Tuesday, which dipped to 333 on the second day. “Yesterday was our best round of the season, and that’s a tough course, and at state.”

“If we would have played two average days, we would have lost.”

For Sacred Heart, it was almost a reverse of last year’s championship, when the Knights trailed by double digits after the first round but came back to win by 17. They shot a 310 Tuesday for a 13-stroke lead over Trinity (323), with Syracuse 14 back at 324.

Even with no individual finisher inside the top five Sacred Heart’s four scorers finished no worse than 16th for a two-day total of 645. Their first five all were among the top 20 medalists.

“We just had more depth,” Newell said. “Our numbers four and five were better than anybody else’s.”

Syracuse, which had Wednesday’s top team score of 325, was second with a 649 total and Hutchinson Trinity finished a distant third at 667.

Junior Ethan Newell led the way for Sacred Heart in eighth place, shooting an 80 Wednesday for a two-day total of 12-over-par 158.

“I felt a bit of pressure, but I was playing really well,” Ethan Newell said. “I wasn’t checking the other scores. I just knew I was up on my Syracuse kid the whole time.”

Junior Ethan Newell

“I hit my irons well and kept the ball in play for the most part.”

Senior Will Tuttle was next for the knights in 11th place at (77-83) 160, followed by freshman Jake Koksal in a tie for 14th with a (76-87) 163, while senior Ben Marrs rounded out the scoring in 16th at (81-83) 164.

The Knights also were in good shape in the event of a tie, with junior Dominic Matteucci tying for 19th at (79-90) 169. Senior Cody Burr was the team’s sixth member, finishing in a tie for 43rd at 188.

The individual medalist was Humboldt’s Connor Newman with an even-par 144 total, including the low round both days. Cair Paravel’s Caleb Cleverdon was second at 5-over 149 and Syracuse’s Brock Keller third at 153.

Syracuse got as close as two shots early on the back nine, triggering a sense of reverse déjà vu from last year.

“On hole 11, I watched the scores, and we were two up, and I thought, ‘Jeez, we’re going to lose,’ because I was watching our golfers and they were not playing well,” Patrick Newell said. “And then two holes later it’s eight, and I was wondering if my computer was glitching.”

“I talked to the kids, and they said back-to-back Syracuse kids made triple (bogeys), and then it was just hang on to the end.”

Ethan Newell also had memories of last year’s Sacred Heart comeback.

“I was thinking that as well,” he said. “I remember one coach on 12 saying the exact same thing, that this is what happened (in Sacred Heart’s favor) last year.”

Syracuse made its comeback behind Brock Keller with a second-round 74 and Charlie Keller with a 75 to finish sixth with an 11-over 155 total. But all four Sacred Heart scorers finished ahead of the Bulldogs’ other two.

The narrow escape definitely tested the Knights players’ nerves. None of them wanted to see the streak end on their watch.

“I was completely relieved,” Ethan Newell said. “It definitely added some pressure.”

“(But) it feels great. This was probably the hardest one — harder than last year — but we got it done.”