PINEHURST -- Green Hope High coach David Allen glanced at the leaderboard and tried not to do the math that was unfolding as final-round scores of the NCHSAA 4-A Championship were trickling in.

On Green Hope's team scorecard there was a 78 beside the first-round 70 posted by sophomore Will Almand. Two straight 77s sat next to Tripp Brizendine's name, a 74-75 by Kevin O'Connell's. Except for Kyle Sonday's 73, the second-round numbers were the same or higher for each Falcon.

"I kept thinking we'd play our best all at the same time," Allen said. "Sometimes, though, you just have to persevere."

On Tuesday at Pinehurst No. 6, just one day after looking as unbeatable as it had all season, the Falcons did as Allen said -- they persevered enough to win their second state title in four years.

"Sure, we wish we could have done better and won by a large margin, but a win is a win ... that's all that matters," said senior Rob Barrow, the only Falcon to have played on the 2003 championship team. Bookended by the titles, Green Hope also finished second in 2004 and third in 2005.

After an opening-round 1-over 289 team score, Green Hope finished at 16-over 592 -- eight strokes better than in 2003 -- and won by six strokes over Broughton High, which made up seven strokes on the Falcons with a final-round 296. Charlotte Providence High (602) and Middle Creek High (612) finished third and fourth, respectively.

Individually, senior Drew Younts of Northwest Guilford High repeated as medalist. Younts shot 73-72–145 (1 over) to win by a stroke over Ben Wright of Shelby Crest High (69-77–146), Nik Peterson of Providence (75-71–146) and Corey Nagy of Charlotte Vance (72-74–146).

Middle Creek junior Blake Cox, whose first-round 4-under 68 was the only sub-70 round of the tournament, closed with an 80 to finished tied for seventh at 4-over 148, along with Green Hope's Almand (70-78–148).

Prior to Monday's first round, Almand was suffering from a bloody nose, severe coughing and a sore throat. Only at the last minute did he decide to play.

"From the beginning of the season, we all pretty much expected to win [the state championship]," he said.

And as the season progressed, there was little reason to believe the Falcons would not win.

In a week's span in late March, Green Hope won the Jimmy Self Invitational in Hilton Head, S.C., the Anderson Creek High School Elite Championship in Spring Lake and set five tournament records. From there the Falcons won the Tri-Seven Conference and the NCHSAA MIdeast Regional in easy fashion.

At last week's regional, Green Hope turned in a 4-under 284 score with four golfers shooting par or better -- and two others shooting in the 70s -- in less than favorable conditions at The Neuse Golf Club in Clayton.

"I guess that was the kind of day I was expecting to repeat this week," Allen said.

Yet, for all of the celebrating the Falcons did throughout the season, this was also a spring marked by sadness. On April 11, Green Hope assistant coach Chet Grohowski, 66, passed away unexpectedly. The day after learning of his death, the players gathered and talked.

"We said it would be nice to win it all for him," Barrow said, "but that was the last time we talked about it. I suppose it was an underlying motivation for all of us."

When the Falcons arrived in Pinehurst, they were a cohesive band of players intent on not only winning, but erasing the memories of the near misses of winning a state title the past two years. A year ago, Green Hope finished 12 strokes back of the Younts-led Northwest Guilford. Two years ago, the Falcons finished just three strokes back of Broughton.

"I think what we learned from last year is you've got to be careful," said Brizendine, a senior who failed to qualify for the 2003 team. "You don't want to go throwing strokes away by making a mistake bigger than it is."

While not flawless in the opening round, the Falcons were better than the rest. Almand posted a 2-under 70, Barrow a 1-under 71, followed by junior O'Connell and sophomore Ben Kohles at 2-over 74.

Middle Creek, featuring a roster with no seniors, quietly played itself into contention with a 6-over 294, led by Cox's surprising 68 and despite No. 1 player Warren Straub's uncharacteristic 87.

"No," Cox laughed, "I didn't see a 68 coming, especially on a course like this. I was playing well coming in, so I thought I might do well, but no I didn't expect to shoot a 68."

Cox said he slept fine with the lead on Monday night. The Falcons were in jovial spirits as they always are. "We would have been joking around even if we were 20 strokes behind," O'Connell said.

Tuesday, the 12-team field was greeted with the wind down, but pin placements were tucked in the trickiest of positions.

"Let's just say they were easier and more accessible on Monday," said Allen of the hole locations.

The tight pin placements on firmer greens and a bit of nervousness buzzing through the 84-player field helped contribute to scores being a combined 72 over par -- or just under a stroke higher -- for the second round.

"It was just a lot tougher out there," said Sonday, a junior who actually went from an opening-round 8-over 80 to a respectable 1-over 73 in the second round, including a birdie on his 18th hole, the par-4 ninth. "Coach was always updating us with the scores throughout the round and that drives you."

Allen said he wanted each player to be aware of what the rest of the team was doing throughout the round. And the word circulating around Green Hope's back nine was not altogether positive. Over-par numbers were piling up and as the Falcons began turning in their scorecards, each player glanced at the scoreboard, mentally running the numbers of their competitors.

Not until the last couple of Broughton scores had been posted a good 90 minutes after the last Green Hope score were the Falcons assured of the title.

"This is probably the strongest team we've had and our depth was what probably kept us in the game today," Allen said. "This was a team that turned in great performances throughout the year and did everything we asked them to do. They deserved to win."