Eagles qualify two; Bulldogs finish up

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[It was a long Thursday afternoon for Dakota Street and Kobe Watson, but well worth it for the Eldorado High School boys golfing duo.

Both facing tee times prior to 8 a.m., Street and Watson advanced to the golf postseason with strong efforts in the Benton Class 1A sectional at Rend Lake Golf Course.

Street, a senior earned a medal by finishing in a four-way tie for fourth place individually and - along with Watson - was one of nine advancing individuals not on a qualifying team.

And qualifying was a challenge, as host Benton - led by medalist Andrew Mitchell's 2-under par 70 - won the team title with 310 strokes to 318 for Hamilton County.

Carmi-White County shot a 322, which would have advanced out of most other regionals, but it was only good enough for third place.

Eldorado (353) finished seventh of 13 teams in the field.

Street carded a 79, and Watson, a junior, was right behind at 80, which were good enough for second and third, respectively, among advancing individuals.

Both are repeat qualifiers, having also advanced from last year's Robinson regional.

However, the balance of the Eagles' entries struggled.

Adam Aldridge, the Eagles' No. 3 player, finished at 90, eight strokes above the advancing cutoff (82).

Elliot Gordon (104) rounded out the Eldorado scoring, and Darian Carter and Matt McGuire shot 112s. Alex Watson was out of town an unable to play.

"I thought we might be able to have three advance," Eagles coach Greg Goodley said. "It says a lot about how hard Dakota and Kobe have worked. Neither is happy with their score, and they know they'll have to play better (at Monday's West Frankfort sectional) if they want to get out and make it to state."

Goodley said Aldridge had a bad day.

"He would maybe par a hole, and then come back and double-bogey," Goodley said. "He just never got untracked. When you get into situation where you have to be in the top eight to advance, it's tough. Sometimes you just don't get the breaks. I thought as a team, we'd shoot better than 353. It just comes down to who plays the best that day."

Watson and Street will get in practice rounds today and Saturday at Franklin County Country Club, and play in the sectional Monday.

"They'll have to be close to 75 to make it out," Goodley said. "There will be some good golfers there."

HHS BOYS FINISH UP AT A-J REGIONAL

ANNA - Harrisburg High School's boys golf wrapped up its season with a seventh-place finish at Thursday afternoon's Anna-Jonesboro Class 1A regional.

Harrisburg's team score was 420 for the 18 holes.

"We finished seventh of 12 teams," Bulldogs coach Jim Curtis said. "Finishing ahead of five other schools shows the improvements we have made. Two of those five teams beat us in dual matches earlier this year."

Jimmy Sherrod was Harrisburg's medalist with a 99, J.P. Hutchison shot a 102, A.J. Moulton 106, Kameron Ryder 113, Garrett Smith 116 and Jeremiah Wells 134.

Hutchison, Moulton and Ryder, all seniors, played their final match for the Bulldogs.

"I wish nothing but the best for our seniors," Curtis said. "This team, although it didn't necessarily show it in the win column, made tremendous gains through the season."