Lamar School captured its second state title in golf in as many seasons, finishing first in the MAIS Class AAAA, Division II state championship tournament Monday at Deerfield Golf Club in Madison.

Lamar finished with a final score of 323, with Magnolia Heights coming in second at 346. Ross Bounds was the low medalist after shooting 78, while Logan Lamar was runner up after shooting 79.

“Winning a state championship is never easy,” Lamar golf coach Billy Pomeroy said. “It always takes hard work. We were fortunate to have veterans from last year’s team come back who played well, and we had some new faces that were very important throughout the whole season. There was a nice mix of experience and inexperience, and the while team came together. It was a group effort, and I’m really proud of them.”

Pomeroy elaborated on the team effort comments, saying even though there was a top six — the ones who competed at state; the top four scores went toward the final — the roster was made up of golfers who kept pushing the others, regardless of whether they were in the top six.

“The last couple of years we had a top six, and that truly was our top six,” Pomeroy said. “This year we had eight or nine guys who could have been in the top six, with was a first. The competition went all the way in to the final week of the year as far as qualifying goes. Within our top six, our scores could have come from any of them.”

Competition between the players kept everyone honest, Pomeroy said, and there was no better example than that than the competition between Bounds and teammate Eli Mitchell. Bounds bested Mitchell by just seven strokes on the year.

“They were playing hard to see who would be our player of the year,” Pomeroy said. “The competition within the team made us better. On paper, we maybe shouldn’t have been as good as we were, but we were a true team — and that’s not just in the top six. Everyone had to earn their spot.”