With strong cross winds at Alvamar on Wednesday, Lawrence High boys golfers needed to take advantage of what they could control: putting.

The Lions were strong on the greens and put up consistent scores to tie for fifth place at the 25-team LHS Invitational. Free State finished in 10th.

Sophomore Cole Brungardt (80), junior Dawson Dykes (81), junior Braxton Olson (81) and sophomore Garrett Wildeman (82) all finished within two shots of each other, helping the Lions post their best round of the season.

“We push each other every day,” Brungardt said. “We all definitely picked out our weaknesses and turned them into our strengths. It’s fun to see.”

Olson had a triple-bogey on his first hole before bouncing back with a few birdies to get back on track. He has worked on his putting all season, and it paid off Wednesday.

“It probably saved me seven strokes today,” Olson said.

The wind affected some of the Lions trying to drive the ball onto the fairway and made it difficult to land the ball on the green off their irons.

“It was stiff wind,” Brungardt said. “It was just different because it normally blows the other direction, so I just wasn’t used to it.”

Olson added: “It was pretty tough, especially on No. 6. It was tough to get it up there. It was just going all over the place. I would get to one hole, in my face. Then I think I’m going with it, but next hole it’s in my face again.”

The LHS Invitational also served as the third and final leg of the Sunflower League tournament. The Firebirds finished in third place, despite struggling Wednesday when many of the scores were higher than usual at Alvamar. Junior Jack Flynn, who shot a team-best 80 on Wednesday, took fifth in the league.

“That was kind of our goal,” FSHS coach Matt Gudenkauf said. “We were quite a ways out of second, but being realistic we knew that probably wasn’t going to happen. To make a comeback to get third in the Sunflower League is still a good achievement, even though I know they can play better than what they did.”

Shawnee Mission East won the team title at Wednesday’s tournament and in the league, while junior Andrew Spencer (70) won both individual championships.

The Lions were sixth in the league.

However, the Lions are an improved team since the beginning of the season. In their first tournament, Dykes was the only LHS golfer to shoot under 91.

“We’re feeling really good,” Olson said. “We’re getting better. We’re having fun. We’re getting more closer to each other and bonding more. I think that’s why we’re starting to play better. Because at first, we were all competitive, but now we just want to win as a team.”

With regionals approaching next week, the Lions are aiming at possible trip to the state tournament, especially after building confidence in their latest round.

“I was very happy. Wow,” LHS coach Dirk Wedd said. “We really played well, and we beat everybody in our regional, which means absolutely nothing today, but it does give you a little bit of confidence going into Monday.”

Both schools will compete in regionals at 9 a.m. Monday at Alvamar.

Lawrence Invitational

Wednesday at Alvamar Golf Course

Team Scores: SM East 309; BV North 310; Manhattan 315; SM Northwest 323; Lawrence 324; BV Southwest 324; St. Thomas Aquinas 326; BV West 327; Blue Valley 333; Free State 334; BV Northwest 336; Topeka Seaman 336; Olathe East 338; Washburn Rural 338; Olathe Northwest 340; Junction City 348; SM West 357; Olathe South 358; SM South 358; Bishop Miege 388; Shawnee Heights 389; Leavenworth 419; SM North 455.

Medalists: 1. Andrew Stewart, SM East, 70; 2. Christian Ghilardi, SM Northwest, 74; 3. Blake Allen, SM Northwest, 77; 4. Josh Pedersen, BV North, 77; 5. James Henderson, BV West, 77; 6. Justin Howard, BV North, 77; 7. Cole Dillon, Manhattan, 77; 8. Jake Goldman, BV North, 77; 9. Dillon Funk, Olathe Northwest, 78; 10. Thomas Luger, SM East, 78.

Free State results: Jack Flynn 80, Jackson Junge 81, Tate Steele 86, Coleman Houk 87, Matt Siler 91, Daniel Clarke 91.

Lawrence High results: Cole Brungardt 80, Dawson Dykes 81, Braxton Olson 81, Garrett Wildeman 82, Brent Cahwee 94, Jack Ryan 101.

Sunflower League Final Standings

(Three 18-hole rounds)

Team scores: 1. SM East, 911; 2. SM Northwest, 940; 3. Free State, 985; 4. Olathe Northwest, 989; 5. Olathe East, 998; 6. Lawrence, 1003; 7. SM South, 1041; 8. Olathe South, 1043; 9. SM West, 1043; 10. Leavenworth, 1208; 11. SM North, 1415.

Medalists: 1. Andrew Spencer, SM East, 212; 2. Blake Allen, SM Northwest, 219; 3. Christian Ghilardi, SM Northwest, 229; 4. Dillon Funk, Olathe Northwest, 230; 5. Jack Flynn, Free State, 230; 6. Brady Clark, SM East, 231; 7. Thomas Flick, SM West, 235; 8. Conner Swanson, SM East, 239; 9. Worth Blackman, SM East, 241; 10. Mitchell Bolton, 244.

Free State results: 5. Jack Flynn, 230; t-17. Jack Junge, 251; t-20. Tate Steele, 253; t-26. Coleman Houk, 259; 37. Matt Siler, 268.

Lawrence High results: 15. Cole Brungardt, 249; 16. Braxton Olson, 250; t-17. Dawson Dykes, 251; t-20. Garrett Wildeman, 253; t-41. Brent Cahwee, 282.