St. Xavier and Trinity controlled the Kentucky golf scene all year and looked on their way to battling head-to-head for the team championship after Day 1.

But sitting right behind them was Lexington Christian Academy, locked in with young talent peaking at the right time and ready to spoil the traditional powers’ title plans.

Sophomore Jansen Preston and junior Jackson LaLonde led the charge for Lexington Christian to capture the team title, edging St. X by three strokes at the Leachman Buick-GMC/KHSAA Boys’ State Golf Championship on Wednesday at Bowling Green Country Club.

Lexington Christian had a two-day total of 8-over par 584 while St. X finished runner-up with 587. Trinity and Taylor County tied for third at 590.

Franklin-Simpson shot 620 for fifth.

St. X entered the state tournament having won the past three state titles. The Tigers and Trinity were tied after the first round while Lexington Christian sat two shots back.

The Eagles won their third state title – the first since winning back-to-back in 2010 and 2011 – with a second-round 4-over par as St. X and Trinity shot 9-over and 12-over, respectively.

“They’ve won everything all year,” Lexington Christian coach Eric Geldhof said. “We just peaked the last two weeks of the year, but peaking and having everyone playing their best at the right time is even more special. We’ve been dreaming about this. With that dream, we put together things we had to do to make this happen. I’m proud. This is our third here at LCA and this one feels just like the first.”

Preston, a sophomore, shot 5-under 67 in the second round and finished the tournament at 7-under 137 to win the individual championship. He overcame two bogeys on the first four holes by settling into seven birdies the rest of the way.

Preston pulled away with the title with birdies on the 17th and 18th holes. Lyon County senior Culllan Brown, who won the title in 2016, finished second with a 140 (-4).

“I was nervous coming down the stretch because I felt like I had a chance,” Preston said. “I just calmed down somehow. I finished birdie-birdie, so I guess it worked.”

Right there battling Preston atop the leaderboard late in the afternoon was teammate LaLonde. The junior dropped back with three straight bogeys on the 15th, 16th and 17th holes and finished tied for fourth with St. X’s Drew Doyle with a 2-under 142.

For Geldhof, watching two players he knows will be back next year battle at the front late in a championship round was reassuring that Lexington Christian may contend for more titles in the future.

“I don’t know that I’ve been more proud of anybody in my life than this group,” Geldhof said. “They’re really close. We get to share something that’s quite incredible that not a lot of people have the chance to do. They love each other, they’re competitive, and to pull this off – which we planned on doing – is big.”{&end}