The co-op of Bison, Hettinger (ND), and Scranton (ND) are celebrating a girls state golf championship this week. On Tuesday at Hart Ranch in Rapid City, the Cardinals topped second place Chester Area by three-strokes to win the state tournament.
Weather during the event made things challenging at times. There was a stoppage because of severe thunderstorms both days, but the girls tournament was able to press on after the delays to finish.
“With the stoppage today and yesterday, and now the sun is going down,” said Bison/Hettinger/Scranton head girls golf coach Jeffery Johnson. “Getting it done right at the last moment – truly amazing.”
As a team, Bison/Hettinger/Scranton scored +104 in the two rounds of play. Greta Anderson shot an 81 and 82, while Allison Kahler scored an 81 and 85. Mary Carmichael would then shoot a 103 and 102, and Ella Anderson scored a 108 and 102.
Greta Anderson, who shot +19 for the tournament, won the individual state championship at the event. She shares it with defending state champion Jayce Pugh of Miller, who also shot +19, but because of weather delays, the playoff format in the event of a tie was eliminated when Tuesday’s round resumed play.
“I’m so proud of them, couldn’t be happier,” coach Johnson stated. “These are the only four in the world that I want to coach, and that’s what I told them.”
Last spring, Bison finished second behind Estelline/Hendricks. As Johnson explained, this gave his team some extra motivation coming into this year’s state tournament.
“We’ve been preparing for this since last year after we lost by two, so we had a chip on our back and we knew we had to get better in the offseason, and they did,” said the Cardinals coach. “Going into this I told them “you guys have all improved since last year at this time, so it’s our time now,” and they got it done.”
Bison is in the northwest part of South Dakota. Hettinger and Scranton reside just across the border in North Dakota.
“It’s huge for our area, huge for Bison. We don’t get too many of them with a small town you know, of 300 people, it’s truly amazing for the town,” Johnson said with a smile on his face. “All the towns’ people have been watching, and it brings the whole town up, lifts it up.”
