ANDERSON — Somewhere between the flag-straightening winds and plummeting temperatures invading Killbuck Golf Club on Saturday, there was focus.

On an afternoon better suited for raking leaves than bunkers, such concentration proved vital to every one of the 44 golfers involved in the ninth annual Madison County Boys Golf Tournament.

It’s what enabled Liberty Christian junior Alex Stinson to card a 73 and earn individual medalist honors for a second consecutive year.

It’s what lifted Highland to its first team championship since 2003, the Scots prevailing in white-knuckle fashion by defeating Lapel by virtue of the fifth-score tiebreaker.

Saturday’s need to incorporate golf’s version of sudden-death overtime came on the heels of the 2007 tournament, in which Anderson edged Pendleton Heights by a single stroke.

Highland coach Jim Wright counted on a similar brand of suspense this time around, and he was dead on.

“I’m thrilled; I thought coming in that Lapel and Pendleton Heights were the frontrunners, but that we could be a factor,” said the 16th-year coach. “We shot extremely well on the back (nine) as the conditions were getting worse. For some reason, we seem to play better in cool, nasty weather.”

Two Scots, Andrew Hanna and Zach Bailey, each posted lower scores on the back side, which, historically, is the more difficult nine at Killbuck.

Bailey is Highland’s No. 5 player, yet it was his back-nine 43 that proved the difference-maker.

With Lapel having earlier manufactured a team score of 328, Bailey’s overall score of 88 meant a 328 for Highland as well. Furthermore, it allowed the Scots to use Hanna’s 90 as the fifth score against the 94 of the Bulldogs’ Dylan Crosley.

Low score for Highland belonged to Trey Knight, who followed up his front-side 38 with a 40 on the back to finish five shots behind Stinson. Joining these two on the All-County Team were Pendleton Heights junior Blake Stephenson (77) and Lapel’s junior duo of Brodie Williams and Mason Lloyd, both with 78s.

Overall, six players broke 80 (Scots’ No. 1 Austin Stagman shot 79), an impressive total given the dismal weather conditions.

“I hit the ball well. I can’t complain about that,” said Williams. “But chipping, whenever I was greenside I never got it up close enough for it to be a comfortable putt. I missed six birdie putts within a radius of 15 feet.”

Stephenson and Lloyd found themselves grouped together as the No. 4 players for their respective teams.

“There is less pressure (as No. 4), I guess. Not as many people are watching you,” said Stephenson, who admits he felt he might be on the verge of a special round after sinking a 30-foot putt on the par-3 fifth hole.