Lawrence High golfer Joe Noller gets down low to view the lay of the land before putting on the first green. Noller finished with an 82 on Tuesday at the state tournament at Shawnee Country Club in Topeka.

Free State golfer Parker Liebl lines up a putt on the first hole. Liebl recorded an 81 on Tuesday at the state tournament in Topeka.

Topeka ? What began as one team’s quest to challenge for a state title turned into a battle for city supremacy Tuesday at Shawnee Country Club.

While the Lawrence High boys golf team entered the Class 6A state tournament with designs on finishing near the top of the leaderboard, a rough start and uncharacteristic, inconsistent play left the Lions in the middle of the pack, looking up at the leaders.

That’s when the race for the city’s low score kicked into high gear, as LHS fell to a ninth-place team finish at the 12-team event.

Although none of the eight city golfers (six from LHS and two individuals from Free State) focused entirely on winning the city’s unofficial state title during their rounds Tuesday, it was a topic of conversation afterwards, as a disappointed group of Lions joined Firebirds Seth McCauley and Parker Liebl in discussing the silver linings they found on a sour day.

For Liebl, who shot a 10-over-par 81, the thought of finishing as the low man for Lawrence crept into his mind as early as hole No. 2.

After a bogey on No. 1, Liebl birdied the par-4 second.

“All I thought about after that was winning Lawrence,” Liebl said. “(Winning the entire tournament) never even crossed my mind.”

Although Liebl’s solid day — nothing lower than 3, nothing higher than 6 — gave his counterparts a run for their money, it was LHS senior Spencer Scott who walked away with the city’s low score of the day. For his efforts, Scott also brought home a state medal after firing a 77 and tying for 12th place.

“I had to scramble to shoot what I shot,” Scott said. “But this was how I wanted to finish, at state. We didn’t play to our potential and we’re all pretty disappointed, but I’m glad we got here.”

Others in the hunt for the low city score included regional champion Joe Noller, a Lawrence High senior who played in the final group and shot 82.

Noller said controlling his racing heartbeat proved to be a challenge throughout the day. As the afternoon went on, the gallery of fans following Noller’s group grew substantially, with most keeping their eyes on Blue Valley West’s Curtis Yonkey, who won state for the second year in a row by shooting a 68.

“I just had a lot of adrenaline all day,” Noller said. “I was air-mailing greens, blowing putts by. It was tough. But it was a good accomplishment for our team. Getting here was our main goal.”

McCauley also competed for the city crown, shooting an 83, with a similarly consistent round to his FSHS teammate.

“If you look at the numbers for both of them, the highest up there is a six,” Free State coach Matt Gudenkauf said. “That’s nice.”

Steve Melton’s 85 and Jon Cohen’s 86 rounded out the LHS scorecard, giving the Lions a team score of 330.

Melton, who had to win an intrasquad, nine-hole playoff before last week’s regional tournament just to compete, shot five strokes better than his season average on Tuesday.

“I was a little more mentally tough than I was at regionals,” Melton said. “I handled bad shots better than I usually do.”

Cohen struggled to find success throughout the day, citing the fact that he was missing golf’s infamous “it” factor on a day he’d rather forget.

“I putted like a gorilla today,” said Cohen. “But I never really lost my focus, and I guess if I’m looking for something positive to take out of this, that would be it.”

Lawrence High juniors Tyler Kahn (91) and Alex Thompson (92) also competed for the Lions on Tuesday, but both had trouble finding their groove.

“I just had a bad day,” Kahn said. “I think we all did.”

Added Thompson, who drained putts of 40 and 35 feet on back-to-back holes: “My putter saved me from triple digits today.”

The state tournament was the final event in the high school careers of Liebl, McCauley, Noller and Scott. But for the four LHS golfers on hand who will return to the team in 2010, playing a round at state proved to be a valuable experience.

“We knew what we had to do and we didn’t quite get it done,” LHS coach Dirk Wedd said. “But I think it was good for the younger guys to get a taste of what this is all about. We’re losing our two horses, but we’ll have four kids coming back next year who have been here now. And that’s something you can build on.”