The Newberry boys team poses with the trophy after winning the Division 2 U.P. Finals Wednesday at the Portage Lake Golf Course in Houghton. (Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette)

HOUGHTON — Last season, the Newberry Indians girls golf team won the Division 2 U.P. title. That win was motivation for coach Kenn Depew’s boys team. With a par by their fourth golfer on the final hole Wednesday, the Indians boys held off the host Hancock Bulldogs by one stroke for the win at the Portage Lake Golf Course.

With temperatures in the high 60s and low 70s, conditions were perfect for the Indians to attack the course throughout the day. Depew knew his team, which had never seen Portage Lake prior to Tuesday evening, had a real shot.

“(It’s) a long trip for us,” he said. “I remember I’ve coached these kids since they were in the seventh grade, and the two freshmen were in the sixth grade. After our first week of practice, I told them that if they stuck with it and worked hard, that they were a U.P. championship-caliber team.

“Today, they proved me right.”

Sophomore Jarrett Zellar attacked the course throughout the day, finishing with a 4-under 68. That score included a bogey on the final hole, and an even-par 36 on the back nine.

He had a simple answer for what was working all round.

“My putter,” Zellar said. “I’ve never putted like that before in my life. It’s just everything was going in a hole, making everything.”

After finishing with a birdie on 17, Zellar stepped up on 18 knowing he was in control of his own fate. He had a plan for how to attack the hole, but things didn’t quite as well as he hoped.

“(I wanted to) kind of just hit it down the middle,” he said, “but I sliced one right. (It) stayed in bounds, though, lucky enough. (I) had to punch out, ended up with a six. But, everything was good.”

Depew was proud of his second-year star, along with freshman Austin Boulton, who took second overall with a 73, and made a key putt on 18 to seal the win.

“It’s kind of tough to describe it when someone goes out there and shoots the way he did today,” Depew said. “I saw him at the turn, and I just stayed away. He was in a zone, and I just let him do his thing. He was just marvelous. Then our freshman ended up second medalist. So, coming in first and second is a great day on a course that the first time they’d ever played it was last night.”

The Indians finished with a team total of 316, one stroke better than Hancock’s 317. Jeffers took third, and Baraga fourth, as Copper Country teams did very well on their home course.

Hancock was paced by Kirby Storm, who finished in a tie with Ironwood’s Caleb Sprague with a 76. Baraga’s Alden Leiter, a freshman, finished fifth with a 77, which tied him with Jeffers junior Tage Rajala.

Also in the top 13 were Hancock senior Drew Sturos, who shot a 7-over 79. He finished in a three-way tie with Jeffers freshman Carson L’Esperance and Crystal Falls Forest Park junior Noah Starr.

Hancock sophomore Nolan and Baraga sophomore Kayden Davidson both shot 80. Jeffers senior Griffin Heinonen shot 81.

Hancock junior Marty Pietila and sophomore Connor Helminen both shot 82 to fill out the leaderboard.

On the girls’ side, Bark River-Harris sophomore Makayla Hyslop finished three shots better than Hancock’s Kaelyn Rouleau, a junior, to finish as the medalist. The Mustangs as a team finished strong, taking first with a team score of 416.

Second place in the team competition went to Cedarville, who finished 12 shots behind the Mustangs. Hancock took third with a team score of 442.

Last year’s champion, Newberry, finished fifth as a team.

Ironwood sophomore Cristina Braucher finished third with a score of 96, one shot better than Cedarville junior Makenna Smith.

Newberry sophomore Blair Maki paced the defending champions with a score of 98.

Bark River-Harris sophomore Alana Nault finished sixth, shooting 99 for the day. Senior Dakota Bridges was the third Mustangs player in the top nine, thanks to a score of 103.

Along with Rouleau, Hancock junior Diem Kilpela and senior Emery Chynoweth finished in the top 14. Kilpela tied with Bridges and Crystal Falls Forest Park junior Kallie Evers-Margoni with a 103.

Cedarville junior Brylee Smith took eighth with a score of 102. Teammate Payton Smith, a senior, finished 12th with a score of 110.

Newberry golfer Jarrett Zellar chips onto the 18th green during the Division 2 U.P. Finals Wednesday at the Portage Lake Golf Course in Houghton. (Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette)