CALDWELL — Sandpoint High head coach Mike Deprez used the word relevant to describe his team after play wrapped up Saturday at the Purple Sage Golf Course — the site of the 5A State Golf Championship.

Junior Bode Eacret fired in nine day-two pars and grabbed an eighth-place medal with a total gross 12-over-par 154 (74-80), senior Tyler Weisz, despite feeling under the weather, carded a birdie and shot a pair of 84's for a total gross 26-over-par 168 to place 30th, and the Bulldogs followed up their last-place finish in 2024 with a sixth-place team finish this year.

"Bode is one of the most committed players that I've ever had, and it reflects in how he plays," coach Deprez said of the state medalist who led the Bulldogs to a total team score of 665. "He's coachable, dedicated, and it's just a joy and blessing to have him, because he's a tone-setter. He's a wonderful teammate and sets a wonderful standard for everyone else to follow — we're lucky he's only a junior."

While most scores were higher on Saturday, senior Micah Young, who also birdied, shaved a stroke off his second day tally to finish 36th with a total gross 171 (86-85). Senior Logan Roos also had a second-day birdie en route to a total gross 172 (82-90) as he finished 40th amongst the 67-golfer field.

Coach Deprez said these results are the product of the players and their parents going all-in roughly six years ago.

"I couldn't be more proud of the effort and the time we put in, this is a six-year gameplan of creating a culture where the kids play regularly, have fun, and are engaged from a coaching standpoint on a regular basis," coach Deprez noted. "That's always been the goal — closing the gap between us and our southern competitors. We were relevant for the first time at state, at least in my recent memory... We got close and that relevance validates that fact that we had a good program and a good approach, and we're going to continue that model going forward."

As for the course itself, coach Deprez said Purple Sage was high in yardage, which boded in favor of his Bulldogs, but a handful of tricky holes ultimately made the difference, as well as the speed of the U.S. Open-level greens.

"The golf courses teeth really was the speed of the greens," coach Deprez noted. "They measured 12.5 on the stimpmeter... everybody had to deal with it and everyone had their challenges. Our guys did a good job out there with all those challenges... couldn't be happier with their performances."

Senior Everett Gilman held down the No. 5 spot with a total gross 188 (92-96) and placed 62nd for Sandpoint, which were just six strokes shy of 5A Inland Empire League rival Lewiston and two strokes ahead of seventh-place Century in what was the Bulldogs' fourth time competing at the state championship in the last six years.

BOYS 

At Purple Sage Golf Course

Par 71 

6,753 yards 

TEAM SCORES — 1, Bishop Kelly 297-304—601. 2, Twin Falls 314-319—633. 3, Skyline 315-324—639. 4, Preston 323-326—649. 5, Lewiston 339-320—659. 6, Sandpoint 326-339—665. 7, Century 330-337—667. 8, Hillcrest 331-347—678. 9, Pocatello 339-348—687. 10, Middleton 344-344—688. 11, Skyview 345-350—695. 12, Jerome 347-363—710. 

STATE MEDALISTS (Top 10) — 1, Aiden Szentanai, Bishop Kelly, 68-72—140. 2, Charlie Hilvers, Bishop Kelly, 73-72—145. 3, Dan Moodie, Bishop Kelly, 74-75—149. 5, Liam McGee, Century, 72-78—150. 6, Tyler Zachary, Lakeland, 76-74—150. 7, Brody Payne, Twin Falls, 75-76—151. 8, Bode Eacret, Sandpoint, 74-80—154. 9, Tripton Beckstead, Preston, 78-77—155. 10, Braden Scott, Twin Falls, 78-77—155. 

SANDPOINT — 8, Bode Eacret, 74-80—154; 30, Tyler Weisz, 84-84—168. 36, Micah Young, 86-85—171; 40, Logan Roos, 82-90—172; 62, Everett Gillman, 92-96—188. 

GIRLS 

Par 71 

6,337 yards 

TEAM SCORES — 1, Twin Falls 334-336—670. 2, Middleton, 340-372—712. 3, Bishop Kelly, 373-349—722. 4, Shelley, 369-373—742. 5, Century, 375-383—758. 6, Lakeland, 386-406—729. 7, Lewiston, 397-402—799. 8, Jerome, 396-413—809. 9, Skyline, 408-411—819. 

STATE MEDALISTS — 1, Gracee Payne, Twin Falls, 76-73—149. 2, Cara Carter, Bishop Kelly, 79-73—152. 3, Mallory Higham, Shelley, 76-80—156. 4, Kambell Richards, Century, 83-79—162. 5, Ava Smith, Middleton, 79-85—164. 6, Kolette Jenkins, Twin Falls, 85-84—169. 7, Reagan Larson, Emmett, 84-85—169. 8, Julie Klefforth, Mountain Home, 86-83—169. 9, Emme Mickelsen, Skyline, 83-87—170. 10, Ellie Higham, Shelley, 82-92—174.