PORTSMOUTH - Coach Jeff Kerns was expecting good. He got better.

Kerns was expecting his Ironton Fighting Tigers golf team to play well Tuesday in the Division II sectional golf tournament at Shawnee Golf Course. As it turned out, Ironton (65-14) gave an even better performance than even Kerns was expecting.

Piketon shot a 310 to win the sectional followed by Ironton with a 316 score. West Union shot a 322 to finish third. The top three teams advance to the district Monday at Cooks Creek in Circleville.

"We were hoping to finish in the top three. I figured if we shot around a 320 team score we had a chance. We played better than I expected and we could have done better. It was a real good effort," Kerns said.

Gagai led Ironton with a 75, just three strokes under par and off the medalist score. Seth Christian was just one stroke back at 76.

Nick Boggess had a solid round of 81, Gavin Harbolt shot an 84 and Jay Rudmann finished with a 90.

"Dennis and Seth played really well, and Nick and Gavin gave us solid scores," Kerns said. "If we keep playing consistently, we have a chance in the district."

Four individual golfers qualified for the district tournament even though their teams failed to advance including South Point's Justin Lewis who shot a 76.

South Point's scoring besides Lewis had Andy Ray with an 87, Chase McWhorter 89, Kyle Hughes 90 and Tommy Walker 103.

Rock Hill was led by Brandon Medinger with a 99. Tyler Jayne had a 100, Nathan Wagner and Nick Bryant 101, and Michael Williams 110.

Fairland's Ian Russell shot an 89 and Matt Leadmon had a 93.