With several of the state’s top teams coming to town Saturday, South Warren was ready to make a statement.

The Spartans did so by claiming the girls’ Bowling Green Invitational Tournament at Bowling Green Country Club with a team score of 312 behind an individual title from Faith Martin.

“Two things,” South Warren coach Eric Holeman said. “As a team, it’s hard for us to put a good team score here at this course. We’ve always had one or two do good, the other two or three not so good. For us to post that team score is phenomenal. I am super impressed from everybody top to bottom.

“The second part is it’s a big field. All these teams in western Kentucky and northern Kentucky and eastern Kentucky don’t get the respect around the Louisville and Lexington areas,” added Holeman. “For us to do this, to prove to the rest of the state that we’re not a fluke – we put up a good score and hopefully we can do it again at regionals and then on to the next step at state, too.”

Martin fired a 1-under 71 to beat Christian Academy-Louisville’s Grace Walker by two strokes. It’s the Western Kentucky commit’s fourth individual victory of the season.

“I started off really rocky and I knew I had to just bounce back from that,” Martin said. “My driver started working out and I was hitting greens and making putts when I needed to.”

Behind Martin were McKenna Stahl (77), Lauren Holeman (79) and Callie Spires (85) with scoring finishes to help edge Paul Laurence Dunbar by one stroke. The Lady Bulldogs were led by Maddie Cecil (75) and Casey Powell (75). It’s the sixth team victory of the season for the Spartans.

“If you didn’t have a pencil and paper to add up their scores, you would have thought there’s no way Faith would have shot a 71, the other two shot upper-70s and my fourth score to count would have been mid-80s,” Holeman said. “They scrambled so much today to get those low scores and it shows by that team score.”

Paul Laurence Dunbar was fourth in the most recent All-State points standings, one spot higher than South Warren. Sacred Heart, who was third in All-State points entering Saturday’s event, finished third with a team score of 316. In total, five of the top 10 teams in All-State points were at the tournament.

Marshall County placed fourth (332), Shelby County was fifth (337) and Barren County was sixth (365). Bree Russell (82), Karleigh Delk (87), Taylor Gaunce (97) and Lilly Shipley (99) recorded scoring finishes for the Trojanettes.

Rockcastle County finished seventh (367) and Greenwood was eighth (372). Emily Morgan (81), Emma Harmon (83), Maiah Cisco (97) and Haley Gordon (111) scored for the Lady Gators.

Henderson County finished ninth (377), McCracken County was 10th, Russell County was 11th (380), Highlands was 12th (387), Notre Dame was 13th (395) and Bowling Green was 14th (397). The Purples had scoring finishes from Reagan Richardson (93), Macy Meisel (93), Leah Hughes (104) and Lily Malloy (107).

St. Xavier claimed the boys’ team title by shooting a 279 and Tigers senior Drew Doyle edged teammate Patrick Brooks in seven playoff holes to claim the individual title, after both shot 5-under 67.

“I think I played my last six holes 4-under to get it done,” Doyle, an LSU commit, said. “The playoff was fun against my teammate, so I was happy it ended the way it did.”

Robbie Bender finished even at 72 for St. Xavier and Campbell Kremer shot a 73 to finish 1-over.

“They struggled for a couple weeks, but I think they really came back and played well today,” St. Xavier coach G. Davis Boland said. “It’s all seniors, so the senior leadership has stepped up and the desire to play well at the end of the season is driving them up.”

The tournament featured 20 teams, including eight of the top 25 teams in All-State points.

Behind St. Xavier was Trinity (288) Taylor County (291) and Bowling Green (298).

“We always have a really good field and for my kids, we were laughing. This is the best we’ve played in this tournament for a long time,” Bowling Green coach Adam Whitt said. “For whatever reason, we’d get here – my kids have played thousands of rounds here – and they get here and they don’t play very well. I was happy with our result. That’s as good as we’ve been in a while.”

Collier Curd and Clark McDougal both finished with 73s, putting them tied for ninth. Charlie Reber (75) and Carson Myers (77) added scoring finishes for the Purples.

Greeenwood finished fifth in the tournament, shooting 308 as a team. Carson Sturgill finished tied for 15th with a 74, Michael Lang shot a 77, Marcello Teixeria shot a 78 and Chase Hodges shot an 80.

Marshall County finished sixth (313), Cincinnati Elder was seventh (317), North Oldham was eighth (318), Daviess County was ninth (319), Christian Academy-Louisville was 10th (320) and Allen County-Scottsville was 11th (321). Owen Stamper led the Patriots with a 74 and Rafe Blankenship (78), Tyler Ford (83) and Bryson Bonds (86) added scoring finishes.

South Warren finished 15th (333) behind Highlands (324), McCracken County (326) and Covington Catholic (329). Chase Hodges (80), Tyler Earnhart (81), Tyler Hudson (86) and Clayton Daniels (86) recorded scoring finishes for the Spartans.

Muhlenberg County was 16th (345) and Franklin-Simpson was 17th (349), led by a 78 from Dalton Fiveash. Chase Wilson (82), Dawson Owens (90) and Jake Konow (99) posted scoring finishes for the Wildcats.

Madisonville-North Hopkins was 18th (350), Henderson County was 19th (386) and Warren East finished 20th (399). Sam Wheeler led the Raiders with a 93, while Dalton Hogan (98), Sam Walden (104) and Tanner Flora (104) recorded scoring finishes.{&end}