The Banks High School girls golf team earned their stripes at last week’s 4A/3A/ 2A/ 1A/ Regionals, and in return, the Braves punched their ticket to this week’s state championships at Trysting Tree Golf Course in Corvallis.

Banks finished atop the team standings, defeating second place Scappoose by 12 shots over the course of the two days.

Tillamook was third, Seaside fourth, and Valley Catholic fifth of the eight qualified teams.

Braves assistant coach Dave Crowell said the win was the culmination of the work each of the girls did throughout the season.

“They put a lot of time at the beginning of the year into their short game and really focusing on where they could learn how to score better, and they did a really good job of that at regionals,” Banks coach Dave Crowell said. “Everything came together. They put a lot of trust into what they prepared for and just let it happen.”

Crowell went on to say that one of the more satisfying aspects of their recent result, along with the work they did to get there, was that it didn’t happen overnight, but rather on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.

“The progression has been steady throughout the season,” Crowell said. “We told them at the beginning of the year, we want you to peaking at the end of the year, and I think for a lot of them, they really are.”

The Braves were paced by senior Maylis Crowell and junior Jade Janecek who placed second and third individually, while junior Emily Graham was eighth, and seniors Julia Rizzo and McKenna King were 14th and 22nd respectively. But the coach said that the team is less about individual performance, and more about a collective effort built on consistency.

It’s that consistency that led to the team’s confidence leading up to the event.

“I wouldn’t say we expected to win, but I think they (the team) understood that they were probably the best team going in, and just tried to keep that in the back of their minds,” Crowell said. “That’s the challenge in high school golf, trying not to get distracted by what the result might be and just focus on the process.”

That process has them prepared for this week’s state event.

The team traveled to Trysting Tree on May 15 for some early preparation, and Crowell said they’re leaving no stone unturned in an effort to put their best foot forward when they tee it up at state.

“We just want to make sure that we outwork everybody, and we got down there early and did that,” Crowell said. “We judge our success by how well we prepared. Did we try as hard as we could? Did we execute our gameplan? Did we choose to be confident? If we do all those things, we are successful.”

And that success, along with any future success they have will come not due to the “I” people often associate with golf, but rather the “we” that this year’s Banks team is built upon.

“This isn’t necessarily our most talented team, but I think they’ve been disciplined and put in the work, and they’ve seen the scores,” the coach said. “Now we’ll see what happens at state.”