Tiger Cubs, North's Connor Bishop get prizes at Arnett Invitational

Apr. 20—The team aspect of high school was reinforced Saturday at Rea Park as Terre Haute South hosted its annual Bob Arnett Invitational.

(Which seems appropriate, since the South teams coached by Arnett were always close-knit groups.)

Coach Chris Cassell of the Braves picked up a format he'd seen in college tournaments in the past and had each team play together in fivesomes on Saturday. And, in a twist that Cassell takes the credit or blame for (depending on how much you enjoy doing math), each team got a score on each hole by combining the best four of its five scores.

"This format played well for [my team]," said coach Rob Worman of Greencastle. "They get along so well as a team, and today they were able to encourage each other."

"It was something a little different," added coach Nick McCollum of Northview. "I enjoyed watching my guys for 18 holes [instead of having to move to different holes for different players] . . . I could see us doing that in [the Northview Invitational] next year."

Those two coaches were happy about most of the day, of course, because the Tiger Cubs nipped the Knights by two strokes for the championship of the 21-team affair.

Terre Haute North, West Vigo and the host Braves finished in the middle of the pack, with Cloverdale, Shakamak and Sullivan also competing.

North had the best score among the Vigo County teams and also had the individual medalist, senior Connor Bishop.

Battling chilly conditions in the morning — "I had to put on a couple of extra layers," he said — the North senior displayed his veteran's perspective when he was asked how he'd done.

"I didn't hit the ball too good," Bishop said, "but I scored pretty well.

"My irons were off," he explained later. "[My play] around the greens is what saved me."

"It was tough out there, cold and windy," said coach Chuck Payne of the Patriots. "We haven't played very well . . . but we're a young team, 10 freshmen. I think we'll be OK by the end of the year."

"We have a lot of potential," said coach Mike Bailey of West Vigo, whose five team scores were within nine shots. "We're just waiting for everything to come together . . . the pieces are starting to fall into place; we're not quite there but we're getting there."

"We're beating our sectional competition so far," said McCollum, whose Knights have been extremely close to winning all three tournaments they've played, "and that's the main thing."

Cassell told the assembled teams at the end of the day that they'd played "the toughest easy course in the world," and that Saturday had been one of the tough days.

Being at home wasn't necessarily an advantage for the Braves either, he said.

"We've seen the carnage. We all have battle scars [from this course]," Cassell theorized. "We struggled, but I think it was hard for everybody today."

Bob Arnett Invitational

Team scores — Greencastle 317, Northview 319, South Knox 326, Vincennes Lincoln A 329, Indianapolis North Central A 331, Castle 332, Bloomington North A 335, Terre Haute North A 338, Cloverdale 339, Life Academy 341, Shakamak 342, Terre Haute South A 342, Vincennes Lincoln B 350, Vincennes Rivet 361, West Vigo 376, Indianapolis Chatard 377, Indianapolis North Central B 380, Bloomington North B 382, Terre Haute South B 386, Sullivan 392, Terre Haute North B 407.

Medalist — Connor Bishop (THN) 77.

Because of the scoring system, the team score will usually be lower than the total of the four best individual scores.

Greencastle (317) — Ben Zellers 78, Bryson Worman 81, Jackson Rodgers 83, Zane Huber 84, Sam White 97.

Northview (319) — Lane Notter 77, Aydan Green 85, Lincoln Pierce 81, Kamden Kellett 82, Porter Frederick 94.

Terre Haute North A (338) — Bishop, Nathan Fields 93, Abe Nasser 82, Noah Walker 92, John Lee 94.

Cloverdale (339) — Zach Thomas 81, Eli Kelley 81, Carson Caulkins 103, Houston Jobe 99, Desmond Alexander 103.

Shakamak (342) — Wyatt Barcus 93, Mason Barton 89, Will Miller 95, Blaise Newton 91, Maddox Barton 89.

Terre Haute South A (342) — Peyton Turner 83, Nick Stewart 87, Nick Cherry 92, Austin Cheek 89, Nolan Mishler 87.

West Vigo (376) — Collin Akers 91, Bryce Easton 93, Gunnar Bland 92, William Marrs 100, Andrew Kidwell 100.

Terre Haute South B (386) — Ezra Sanchez 88, Parker Knowles 96, Max Seaton 106, David Coulton 108, John Mann 117.

Sullivan (392) — Hunter Pirtle 98, Cash Murdock 101, Xander Perro 101, Lincoln Riley 102, Keaton Toth 114.

Terre Haute North B (407) — Oliver Smith 115, Braylan Chesshir 99, Keegan Reddy 101, Patrick Farnsworth 108, Matox Woodcock 111.

Next — Terre Haute South hosts Greencastle on Monday. Terre Haute North is at Sullivan on Monday. West Vigo hosts White River Valley, Linton and Shakamak on Tuesday at Rea Park. Northview plays Monrovia on Tuesday at Deer Creek.