After two nearly perfect practice rounds at Emporia Municipal Golf Course, everything seemed in place for Lawrence High’s boys golf team to win a state championship Tuesday, right?

“Yeah, we were all shooting lights out,” said Lion senior Zach Blevins of LHS’ practice rounds over the holiday weekend.

Lights out all right.

Lawrence didn’t have nearly the positive performance Blevins and his teammates had hoped for Tuesday, when the Lions struggled with the perplexing pin placement of the Class 6A state setup.

“How about those pin placements?” LHS senior Scott Andrews asked a group of fellow LHS seniors after the final rounds of their career — which was still good enough to secure an eighth-place finish for an LHS squad with five seniors.

“Some of them were just insane,” responded Thomas Shmalberg.

“Yeah, they were really hard,” said Blevins, who was LHS’ top finisher and only medalist with a 13th-place round of 77. “Not only were they hidden really well on the sides, some of the sides were on a slope.”

Such as hole No. 16, where Blevins’ 6-over-par score somehow improved with the help of a birdie.

But few others mirrored Blevins’ success.

Lawrence HigH SENIOR Zach Blevins sinks a birdie putt. Blevins shot 77 and tied for 13th at state Tuesday in Emporia.

The pin was on the middle of a slope.

“You couldn’t hit around it and you really couldn’t hit up to it either,” Blevins said. “It really was tough.”

So was the final round of Thomas Fulbright’s career.

The regional champion from May 19 at Eagle Bend posted a score of 5 over par for his first nine holes. The senior, who will attend Kansas University next year but not play golf, didn’t do much better on the back nine.

He was 6 over and finished with a score of 82.

“That was a tough round,” he said. “I really thought the way we were playing coming in, that we might have a chance.”

While the Lions’ trouble came mostly from a tough course setup, lone Free State High qualifier Aaron Webber ended his day with frustration.

After uttering a few choice words after a seven-spot on his first hole, the Firebird senior was disqualified for throwing his club on hole No. 9.

“He lost his cool and said a few things he shouldn’t have,” said Free State coach Jack Schreiner. “Then he missed a pitch and threw his club.

“They had no alternative but to disqualify him.”

Schreiner said his senior quickly apologized for his actions and that hopefully he’ll take something away from this.

“Aaron made a mistake and it cost him,” Schreiner said. “He understood why things happened and hopefully he learned a lesson.

Lawrence high seniors Jon Moseley, left, and Thomas Shmalberg chat at the Class 6A golf tournament Tuesday in Emporia. Moseley shot an 81, while Shmalberg tallied an 83.

“But it definitely made for a long trip.”

Things weren’t quite as frustrating for the rest of the field Tuesday.

Blue Valley Northwest’s Emory Dease and Blue Valley North’s Brett Iliff tied with a low score of 70, but Iliff beat Dease on a one-hole playoff.

The team title also came down to a single digit when Blue Valley Northwest held off Overland Park Aquinas 302 to 303.

While things didn’t quite go according to plan for Lawrence High’s graduating golfers, LHS coach Ron Commons said his seniors should shrug off any feelings of letdown.

¢ 6Sports video: Lions take 8th in state golf

“We had a few scores that were lower than I thought they’d be,” Commons said. “But we can’t use the pin placement as an excuse because that was the setup for everyone.”

Commons said he was pretty pleased with the overall performance of his team which included an 81 by Jon Moseley, an 82 by junior Daniel Brumley and an 83 and 85 respectively for Shmalberg and Andrews.

“I think a bunch of good players left their careers with a pretty good round,” Commons said.