Dillon Drake watches his tee shot during a dual meet between Wawasee and Jimtown at South Shore Thursday. Drake’s 41 was the low round of the evening. (Photos by James Costello)

SYRACUSE — There were no conference stakes to Wawasee’s dual meet with Jimtown Thursday, nor will the Warriors have to face the Jimmies at sectional in a month.

Given those facts, Wawasee coach Steve Coverstone let his players have a little fun, going out in foursomes of two teammates from each squad. His Warriors seemed to respond positively, carding a 173 well ahead of Jimtown’s 196 score at South Shore.

“The kids enjoy playing with each other, so it was nice to have just one meet where you can go out with your teammates,” explained Coverstone.

“We’re having fun trying to get better. That’s our goal.”

Evan Dippon sinks a putt.

Dillon Drake shot a 41 for low medalist honors, bouncing back from a bogey on 4 with three straight pars in the soggy conditions at South Shore. Top Flighter Zach Leedy carded 42 while continuing to struggle with putting issues and stayed around after Thursday’s meet to get in some extra practice on the putting green. Evan Dippon shot 44, Luke Weisser carded 46, and Jared Krugman finished in 53.

Jimtown was paced by Nate Behrens’ round of 46 and Trae Brubaker’s 49. T.J. Funderburke and Brayden Rice both shot 50, and Keenan Perkins’ fifth score was close behind at 51.

Coverstone’s top five — which moved to 5-3 in dual meet action — continues to improve, but he cautions there is still a lot of work to do before May 15 and the Northern Lakes Conference Tournament.

“We’re slowly getting better. We’ve got to keep going. Going into the Northern Lakes Conference, we’ve got to be better than we are right now,” he said.

Not only did Wawasee’s top five get Jimtown, but the JV Warriors bested the Jimmies’ varsity by five strokes. Freshmen Aiden Jonsson fired a 46, and Victor Tayagua and Tyler Bosstick carded dual 47s. Riley Menzie shot 50, and Hunter Hlutke turned in a 58.

Jimtown’s JV got a pair of 53s from Brice Grifee and Bob Behrens.

“We had three JVers in the 40s. We’re happy about that. They were all three freshmen, so they played well,” Coverstone said.

Wawasee’s JV plays at a Warsaw Invitational Saturday, while the Warriors varsity travels to the Concord Invite. The team will get a look at the only two Northern Lakes Conference opponents not present at their own invite last weekend, namely Concord and Elkhart Memorial, as well as another look at NorthWood, Northridge and Goshen.

Victor Tayagua chips up on the sixth green at South Shore. Tayagua’s was one of three JV scores in the 40s for Wawasee, and the JV Warriors beat Jimtown’s varsity by five strokes.