SPEARFISH - Lead-Deadwood High School struck the mother lode for the fifth consecutive year, winning the state Class A girls golf title Tuesday at Spearfish Canyon Golf Course.

The Lady Golddiggers posted the two-day low score of 729. Milbank captured runner-up honors with 787, followed by Belle Fourche with 788, Dell Rapids with 812, Dakota Valley with 837 and Aberdeen Roncalli with 846.

"There are so many things in golf to focus on," Lead-Deadwood coach Joan Rachetto said. "It was more goal-oriented for us, rather than feeling the pressure that we had to win.

"This was an invaluable experience for some of our younger players."

Dani Bellet closed out her prep career at LDHS, claiming medalist honors with a 158, Bellet shot a 75 on Tuesday, shaving eight strokes off her opening day score of 83.

Milbank and St. Thomas More each had a pair of golfers earn top 10 finishes. Rachel Patnoe, a sophomore at Milbank, carded a runner-up score of 167. Teammate Brittany Tillma was fourth with a 174. Madison's Brianna Postma sandwiched the two Bulldog golfers, tallying a third-place total of 173. St. Thomas More freshman Danielle Kerr and senior Megan Byram tied Belle Fourche senior Rachel Sacrison for fifth place with identical scores of 181. "What more can you say about Rachel," said Belle Fourche coach Clark Gusso. "She finished so strong on the back nine holes."

Jenessa Rantapaa of Lead-Deadwood and Nicole Funck of Dakota Valley shared eighth place with 181. Katie Heller of Aberdeen Roncalli was tenth with 185.

The top six individual finishers landed berths on the all-tournament team.

Joining Bellet and Jenessa Rantapaa as a top 20 finisher for the Lady Diggers was: Tassy Rantapaa, 12th place, 187. Other LDHS scores were: Ellise Nichols, 202; Mikayla Gallagher, 285.

Shelby Ross, a junior at Red Cloud, tied for 15th place with a 192. Senior teammate Jacqui White tied for 20th with a 197. Claire Carson, a Custer senior, collected 18th place with a 93. Belle's Cordelia Bowman finished 19th with a 194.

"One of our goals was to move up from our fifth place finish the last two years," said Gusso.

"I think we got over-excited with the second-best score behind Lead-Deadwood coming into the tournament. Milbank did a super job on Monday with its 390 in windy conditions. "We improved our score by 12 strokes today."

Ashley Watson, Belle's other senior, claimed 30th place with a 204. "Ashley's 49 on the back nine put us in the hunt for second place."

"Number one, it never hurts to be at home," said Gusso of playing the state tournament only 10 miles from Belle Fourche. "We're familiar with the Hills courses. This is the fifth year in a row Lead-Deadwood and Belle Fourche both placed in the top five at state. No other Region can say that.

"Joan (Rachetto) and her girls help elevate the play out here. I think they make us better."