DAYTON - Dayton High's girls golf team played its home course Thursday afternoon, and the team responded with a solid fourth-place finish at Dayton Valley Golf & Country Club.
The Dust Devils, led by transfer student Maria Inchausti's 93, finished with a 466. Moki Flores carded a 114, Lauren Coons a 121 and Taylor Ingersoll 138.
The regular season concludes next Wednesday with a tournament at Spring Creek. The state tournament is the following Monday and Tuesday at Ruby View in Elko.
Elko won the tournament with a 366 followed by Spring Creek at 398 and Lowry at 402. South Tahoe was fifth at 490, Fernley was sixth at 498 and Sparks was seventh at 583. Fallon fielded an incomplete team.
Elko's Catherine Morgan was the medalist with an 84, while Truckee's Annika Nousiainen and Kayley Shupe of Spring Creek tied for second at 86. Maddie James of Elko, Maria McCrary of Spring Creek and Inchausti tied at 93.
Dayton's Inchausti carded three pars (No. 3 a par-5, the par-4 7th and the par-4 15th) during her round, but a triple-bogey at No. 1, a quad at No. 12 and a double-bogey at the par-3 16th killed any chances of challenging for medalist honors on a cold, wet and overcast day. She also was assessed a two-shot penalty for dragging the trap rake through the trap before hitting out of the sand.
"I hit it pretty good," Inchausti said. "I didn't know about the penalty."
Dayton coach Brad Wick was surprised it was called, but admitted it was a correct ruling.
"Technically, it's called testing the surface of the sand," Wick said. "It's not a great penalty, but it's in the book.
"It's a pretty decent round. She had been averaging 87 until the last tournament when she shot a 92. This is the toughest course we have played this year."
Flores, according to Wick, was only two shots off her previous best of 112.
"Her score is definitely up there (as one of the lowest this year)," Wick said. "This would probably be considered her best score because it's Dayton, and it's tougher than anything we've played so far."
Flores still is fighting for a spot in the state playoffs. The top three teams and the top seven individuals advance. The Northern 3A doesn't have a zone tournament like the 4A because there is just one big league.