Golf: Danvers reaches Division 3 finals; Prep ousted in D1 North sectional

For the second consecutive year, the Division 3 North golf sectional championship at Far Corners G.C. in West Boxford belonged to the powers out of the Dual County League.Weston and Wayland once again reigned supreme, repeating their first and second-place team finishes from last season. After that, however, it was a complete dogfight for the third and final spot in the state finals at Wiantuck G.C. in Great Barrington next Monday.Last year, Danvers experienced the sting of missing out on qualifying for the finals by a single shot, finishing behind Lynnfield. And as luck and fate would have it, it would be those two teams that fought it out for the third spot again.This time it was the Falcons who prevailed, beating the Pioneers, 342-343, to punch their ticket to the finals.”We lost so many players from last year that no one really expected us to be here,” Danvers coach Jeff Avigian said. “This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for us ? This is definitely the proudest I’ve been of one of my teams.”Danvers’ consistency down its order proved to be the difference, as the Falcons had all four scores that counted come in at 90 or lower while the Pioneers had to take a 96 as their final qualifying score.Lynnfield, however, did see Paul O’Brien qualify for the individual finals for a second straight year. O’Brien finished in a tie for fifth with Weston’s Jack Rodday at 79.St. Mary’s barely missed out on earning a spot in the state finals, finishing sixth with a team total of 346. Kevin McCarthy, however, earned one of the 12 individual spots in the state finals, finishing fourth with a round of 78.”Kevin is one of the top players in the state,” St. Mary’s coach Jay Fiste said. “He carried our team to the CCL championship and has had a great year.”Swampscott also just missed a finals spot, finishing with a team score of 349. Alex Patkin was the medallist for the Big Blue with a round of 83.No one, however, could match the consistency of Weston on this Monday.The DCL power and reigning sectional champion had three players qualify for the individual championship and had scores of 83 and 86 that did not factor into the team total of 318.The only team to come close to matching Weston’s stellar play was its rival from the DCL.Wayland would have two players – Joe Cooper (75) and Joe Felipe (77) – post the two lowest rounds of the day, but couldn’t match the consistency of the reigning champs down the lineup.”Coach (Roger) Lauzon (of Lynnfield) and I were talking before the day started and we thought it would be Weston and Wayland and then the other teams 20 shots behind,” Avigian said. “And that’s how it worked out.”DIVISION 1 NORTHDespite having three players shoot rounds in the 70’s, St. John’s Prep barely missed qualifying for the Division 1 state finals. The Eagles’ team total of 315 came up five shots short of the cutoff spot.Andover won the North title with a score of 304 as all four of its players recorded rounds of 79 or lower. Billerica was one shot higher than the Golden Warriors, and Central Catholic rounded out the teams that made it to the finals with a score of 310.Woburn finished fourth, one shot behind the Raiders, and Newton South was fifth at 312. The Prep wound up sixth.Nick McLaughlin earned one of the individual spots in the finals for St. John’s with a round of 76. Nick Maccario shot 78 and Nick Pandelena carded a 79 as both barely missed qualifying themselves.Peabody finished with a team score of 341, led by Athan Goulas’ round of 78.