It's only August and the scores aren't where they'll be at the end of the year, but Warsaw coach Chris Lalonde and her golfers will take the results so far.

Led by last year's state champion Emily Johnson and a solid effort by the other four golfers, the Tigers earned another victory in match play. Monday's victim came in the form of the Columbia City Eagles. Warsaw cruised at Stonehenge Golf Club clipping the Eagles' wings, 179-194.

Johnson, who finished the day with a 41, scuffled at times in the first group out alongside Columbia City's Brittany Thylr. On the fifth hole, a par three, Johnson pushed a par putt and was forced to settle for bogey. Then she bogeyed again on the eighth hole to sit at 36 going to the ninth and final hole. After a good up and down, Johnson made par while Thylr was wide on her par attempt to give the Columbia City junior a 43 for the day.

In the second group off the tees, Warsaw's Mallory Hepler was paired with Kristen Brookes. Brookes was solid all day and finished with a 39 and medalist honors. Hepler, who like Johnson struggled at times, was able to compose herself and end her round with a 47.

Despite higher than expected scores from her first two golfers, LaLonde knows what to expect from the top of her lineup.

"She never gives up. She knows she has to keep on fighting. If she's struggling with one part of her game, she knows something else is going to start clicking," said LaLonde of Johnson. "Yeah, she shot a 41 today, but that's golf. You're not going to shoot even or under every single round and it's not that bad at the beginning of the season to have a round like that."

As for Hepler, there's a reason she's sitting No. 2 on a team that goes deep into the JV roster.

"Mallory didn't play all that great but she came back. She kept battling and came back on the last couple of holes to finish well."

While golf is individual in nature, in high school it's a team sport and this Warsaw team knows what it's capable of.

"They know that they can play better and they're ready for it," said LaLonde. "We played Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday last week. I think it's getting the rust off of everything, the mental, the emotional and conditioning aspect of things. We shot a 181 (at Stonehenge) on Monday and Emily didn't play very well, Mallory didn't play very well so they're getting there."

Jessica Sadler was more than solid in the No. 3 spot, shooting a 45, 12 strokes better than Jaima Woll, her counterpart from Columbia City, who shot a 57.

Elena Duncan added a 46, nine better than Eagle Natasha Wood's 55.

Megan Krizmanich rounded out the varsity action with a 58.

An added bonus to Monday's festivities was the solid play of Warsaw's JV squad. The JV finsihed with a 194, the same score as Columbia City's varsity squad.

Warsaw's answer to Peyton and Eli, Laura and Jenny Manning finished with a 49 and 47, respectively, with Kortni Morris and Erica Schori rounding out the scoring with a 46 and 52. Carly Slater ended the day with a 60, tying Columbia City's best JV score by Heidi Ulrich.

"It's great for me because I haven't set my top five yet, I'm still looking for someone to play real consistent for me, so this week we have two invitiationals, so I think I'm going to switch it around a little bit and give some other girl's some chances to play," said LaLonde of the quality play by her JV squad.

Warsaw, 2-0 in head-to-head play, will be in action again Wednesday morning in the Plymouth Invitational.

WARSAW 179 COLUMBIA CITY 194

Warsaw Scores - Emily Johnson 41, Mallory Hepler 47, Jessica Sadler 45, Elena Duncan 46, Megan Krizmanich 58.

Columbia City Scores - Brittany Thylr 43, Kristen Brookes 39, Jaima Woll 57, Natasha Wood 55, Deah Rex 57

Medalist - Kristen Brookes, Columbia City

JV - Warsaw 194 Columbia City 276

Warsaw Scores - Laura Manning 49, Jenny Manning 47, Erica Schori 52, Kortni Morris 46, Carly Slater 60. [[In-content Ad]]