The Spanish Springs Cougars are playing some of their best golf of the fall season, but competing teams seem to be working harder and harder to close the gap on the High Desert League girls power.

Spanish Springs posted a team total of 372 at Northgate Golf Club Tuesday to capture its sixth win in as many league tournaments this season. The 372 ties the SSHS squad’s second-best team total of the ‘08 campaign.

Second-place Elko was just three strokes back with a team effort of 375. The three-stroke difference is the Cougars’ smallest margin of victory this season. Spanish Springs bested Elko by 29 strokes in the season-opening tournament Sept. 2, but the Indians have been working hard to narrow the distance since.

“It was a little close for comfort today,” Spanish Springs coach Victor Sherbondy said. “What’s frustrating is we get two girls to play really well and two who don’t and that flip flops every week. What we need to do is get more consistent play from our top four girls. We’ve got to get all four to play well on the same day. I think we’ll be able to put that together between now and regionals, but it will take some more work.”

Spanish Springs sophomore Tess Jones came into Tuesday as the HDL’s top-ranked golfer. She struggled to her highest scoring round of the fall, finishing with a 96.

“She just had a lot of missed judgment in terms of distance. She was either hitting the ball too far or too short,” Sherbondy said. “By the time she got it going, it was too late. She had put up some big numbers earlier. She said it was just a struggle.”

Cougars senior Ashleigh Sorensen carded a 90 to top all SSHS scorers Tuesday on the northwest Reno course. Sorensen was fourth in the individual race. SSHS junior Brittany Best was a stroke back with a 91. Another Cougar junior, Rachel Martin, finished with a 95 and rounded out the Cougars’ scoring contingent.

Devin Gaddis and Genessee Roberts put up scores of 102 and 123 for Spanish Springs. Each school’s fifth and sixth scores do not count toward its team total.

Reno’s Veronica Becher took home individual medalist honors with a score of 84. Elko sisters Maddie and Lindsey James tied for second with a score of 88.

The Rail City’s other competing 4A HDL school is Reed. The east Sparks school finished tied for third Tuesday with Reno. Both schools totaled 404 in the HDL’s sixth tournament. The 404 is the Raiders’ lowest team finish this season.

Reed clinched the HDL’s fourth and final regional team berth Tuesday. The 4A Northern Region Girls Golf Tournament is slated for Oct. 13-14 at Elko’s Ruby View Golf Course.

“That’s our lowest team total in a long time,” Reed coach Danielle Fleiner said. “I’m excited. The girls are getting pumped up. It’s been a while since Reed has clinched a team berth to regionals. I’m hoping the kids are peaking at the right time.”

Jocelyn Motter and Tess Oliphant finished with scores of 96 and 98 respectively to pace Reed. Lindsey Porter and Imara Ahmad turned in scores of 100 and 110 to comprise the rest of the Raiders’ scoring. The scores for Oliphant, Porter and Ahmad were all personal tournament bests.

Reed did not count the scores of Nicole Echeto and Carlee Payne, who both finished with 116s.

Both Reed and Spanish Springs will compete in the final HDL regular season tournament next week, slated for Tuesday at Reno’s Somersett Country Club.