HOT SPRINGS - Sioux Falls Christian's Rainey Reynolds overcame a two-stroke deficit on the back nine of Hot Springs Southern Hills Golf Course to win his second consecutive Class A title by firing a 78 on Tuesday.

"It feels good and I'm very happy," said Reynolds, "I trusted my game the last two days and it got me through, all my hard work finally paid off."

Aberdeen Roncalli's Ben Heller shot a 39 on the front nine to take the lead from Reynolds. There was also a third player in contention, Chamberlain eighth-grader Coleman Caldwell, who shot a 38 on the front nine to level him with Reynolds going into the back nine.

Reynolds finished the tournament with a total of 151 to win back-to-back titles, while Heller finished second with a 153 and Caldwell rounded out the top three with a 154.

Reynolds' effort helped Christian to a capture the Class A team title with a two-day 642, finishing 24 shots better than defending champion Vermillion, which finished with a 666. Aberdeen Roncalli was third with a score of 673. Custer was fifth with a 689, while Hot Springs was eighth with a 708 and Lead-Deadwood was 10th with a 715. Red Cloud was 13th with a 745, while St. Thomas More was 15th with a 755.

Only four teams - Aberdeen Roncalli, Madison, Dell Rapids and Winner - shot better on Tuesday than they did during the opening round on Monday.

Custer's Johnny Couch finished sixth after firing a 76 final-round score, which tied him for the best score of the day. He totaled a 158 for the tournament.

"Overall, I think I played pretty well," said Couch, "It's only my junior year, so I can only expect to build on this for next year."

Couch's finish was the highest amongst West River golfers, but several other Black Hills area golfers had strong performances. Tyler Burr, of Belle Fourche, finished eighth overall firing a 161, and Montana Sierra, of Red Cloud, came in at 11th with a 162.

Casey Whitney, of Custer, PJ Wetzel, of Hot Springs, and Zach Fox, of Lead-Deadwood, all finished in the top 20 respectively.

But it was Reynolds, Heller and Crawford who battled shot-for-shot over the final nine holes of the course for the individual title. All three held leads for at least one hole, but, ultimately, it was Reynolds, whose long drives and approach play distanced him from his rivals.

Reynolds, the defending state champion, cashed in several birdie opportunities that were created by his long drives. He often found himself on the green in two shots and his putting, which he had admittedly struggled with, saved him down the stretch.

"I think mentally I got better as the day went on," said Reynolds. "I struggled putting on day one, but I knew I had to put any bad shots I had behind me and just stay strong mentally."

Last season the Class A title came down to a playoff between Heller and Reynolds, and a large group of people awaited on hole No. 18 expecting the same this time, but Reynolds took the lead for good on the 16th, and put the match away on the 17th with a birdie on a par-5.

"I knew I had to trust my driver," said Reynolds. "I knew the green was reachable in two, and I had to expect birdie."