HENRYVILLE, Ind. — Bloomington South boys golf coach Dustin Carver beamed with pride Thursday talking about the hard work his team has put in this season.

And then the emotion of the moment overwhelmed him. Carver took off his bucket hat, clenched it in his hands, and shed tears of joy through his sunglasses.

His Panthers brought home the program's first IHSAA regional title since 2008 at Champions Pointe Golf Club. They have even bigger ambitions than that, but this meant a lot to Carver.

"That group, they've played (really well) for the last third of the season. They believe in themselves, and they play for one another," Carver said. "It's a special group."

The Panthers built a comfortable lead in the front nine holes Thursday, leading eventual third-place finisher Jasper by six strokes at the midway point. Silver Creek finished second.

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Despite some relative hiccups on the back nine, South had such a cushion that the victory wasn't really in jeopardy. The Panthers finished at 292 as a team, 12 strokes ahead of Silver Creek.

Sophomore Landon "Happy" Gilmore once again led the way for South. He shot 72, even with par, tying for the second-best individual score in the field. But the entire team performed well, as Carver alluded to. Junior Nick Bellush was one stroke under par going into the final hole, but recorded a double bogey to finish one over at 73. Senior Jacob Paine matched him at 73, and sophomore Connor Byon was two over at 74. Senior Dylan Barkley finished at 81.

Carver feels all five golfers have hit their strides in this most important time of the season. He said their strong mentality is what makes this group different than some of the other teams he's had over the past several years.

"You look at one through five, they're all going to go and play college golf. They don't let their emotions override their ability to play golf," Carver said. "I think that the consistency that they produce time and time again has really made them stand out. And I think that's the reason why you see the scores and the results that we're seeing right now."

The Panthers have dealt with pressure all season. They've been one of the highest ranked teams in the state most of the year, and knew they were good enough for a deep run in the state tournament.

But as they've done so often, the players delivered Thursday in spite of those expectations.

"There's definitely pressure walking up to the first tee. But I think we all, as a team, let it go once we're out on the course, and just played our games," Paine said. "It feels good to get the job done and win a regional. We played pretty good out there. It feels really good going into state."

South is making its second consecutive trip to the state finals. The Panthers finished fourth last year at 620 — shooting 311 on day one and 309 on day two. They trailed eventual champion Center Grove by 14 strokes.

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Playing at the State Finals last year will pay dividends for South this year as they're used to the big stage.

"It's really important, just to have that experience," Paine said. "We're a great team. I think we just need to play our games, and (we) should be able to get it done."

The Panthers will tee off at Prairie View Golf Club for day one of the state finals on Tuesday. The tournament begins at 8 a.m., though specific tee times will differ. Day two is Wednesday at the same time.

South took time to savor this regional title Thursday. Carver said the team will do some light work Friday and Saturday, and they'll play a practice round at Prairie View on Monday.

As for his message leading up to the state finals, it won't change from what he's told his players all season.

"Let's just go get it. That's kind of been our motto from the very beginning. Go get it," Carver said. "Have fun. Enjoy it. Play aggressive when you need to, and be rock stars. And they have been."

Bloomington North's season concluded Thursday with a 12th place finish.

As a team, North shot 338. The Cougars posted the exact same score at Champions Pointe in last year's regional, but that got them ninth place in 2021.

Coach Harrison Carmichael maintained realistic expectations heading into the regional, so coming up short of the state finals wasn't a major letdown for him.

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"Frankly, we were under no illusion that our team was ready this year to compete to make it out," Carmichael said. "There is a little bit of good to that. We're not sitting here tonight heartbroken that we missed (qualifying) by one. We missed it by 32. It kind of frees the kids up a little bit sometimes to play their game, feel like the weight of the world isn't on their shoulders."

It didn't fully come together for the Cougars. Many of them got off to a rough start and just couldn't recover.

Senior Brayden Bunger shot an 81, tying his season low. Carmichael was particularly happy with his performance in his last-ever high school golf tournament.

Junior Jacob Knapp recorded an 82, junior Simon Deliyannis shot 87, junior Petre Lee finished at 88, and sophomore Grant McCrea posted a 96. Carmichael was hoping they could play a little better, and didn't know what caused their struggles. But he could tell they weren't playing their best golf Thursday.

Carmichael reflected on the team's entire season after returning to Bloomington, and he focused on the bigger picture. Their scores could have been better at times, but what's more important, in Carmichael's mind, is that he worked with an all-around good group of kids.

"This is not all about golf. It's about being a good person (and) being well-rounded. I'm incredibly proud of our entire team," Carmichael said. "The season was a big success. Not only did we win a couple tournaments and they played pretty good golf, but they also held up their end of the bargain in the classroom and in the community.

They can walk around Cascades, and without question, everybody knows that the North golfers are good kids around that place. I think that's much more important."

Follow Herald-Times sports reporter Seth Tow on Twitter @SethTow, or email him at stow@heraldt.com.