Gorman storms back to win title

Victoria Sun

Thursday, May 16, 2002 | 11:10 a.m.

As Bishop Gorman golf coach George DeFrancesco stood near the 18th green of the Wolf Course at the Paiute Golf Club, reflecting on what his team had just accomplished, his emotions got the best of him.

Fighting back tears, he spoke about how much it meant to see Gorman erase a 12-stroke deficit entering the final round of the NIAA/U.S. Bank 4A State Championship for a five-stroke victory over defending champion Palo Verde Wednesday afternoon.

The Gaels shot a 379 for a total 772 for the school's first golf championship while the Panthers, the first-round leader, carded a 396 for a total 777.

"It's awesome," De Francesco said between congratulatory hugs from friends and parents. "I don't know if I can handle it.

"I can't even take it right now."

Coronado junior Matt Edwards, the individual leader after the first round, followed his 68 with a 3-over-par 72 for a total 143 to capture his first state title. Durango's Mitch Carlson and Galena's Bryson Young finished tied at 145, but Carlson took second place in a card playoff.

Before the season started, DeFrancesco thought his team would be in a rebuilding mode.

Juniors Robert Massi and Kevin Hernandez were the only returnees from last year's squad that qualified for the state tournament.

Tyler Hairston moved to Las Vegas from Maryland, but DeFrancesco had never seen him play.

DeFrancesco knew Clark High School transfer Jonathan Turac, who became eligible this season, was a good player. But he wasn't sure how good he'd be after being idle last year.

The two freshmen, Johnny Pinjuv and Garrett Logan, also posed questions.

"All of a sudden, we had eight guys and I only knew two of them," DeFrancesco said. "The personnel was totally different."

DeFrancesco laughed as he recalled meeting Logan and Pinjuv for the first time.

"Garrett came up to me and said, 'Are you the golf coach? I can play,' " DeFrancesco said. "So I asked him what he shot and he said in the 70s.

"In my mind, I'm thinking, yeah, right, everybody says they can shoot in the 70s. He's shown me he can play. Johnny was playing basketball and someone said he could play golf. The first day, he shot 39 and 36. It's been an interesting year."

Taruc and Cimarron's Matt Lisiewski carded a final-round low 73. Taruc's two day total of 148 vaulted him into fifth place.

"I'm very ecstatic we won because I sat out last year," Taruc said. "I knew I could be on a team that would win state.

"After the first round, we told ourselves anything is possible with 18 holes to play. We knew we could win it if we believed."

Logan and Pinjuv each finished at 4-over 76 while Hairston carded a 77.

"They're awesome," Taruc said of the freshmen. "They have a great ability to play golf. Johnny is really, really competitive and Logan loves to win. We needed them."