OLIVE BRANCH - Wilson Reeder responded to his coach's call for urgency.

If Tupelo High wanted to win its third consecutive state championship in golf, then Reeder and his teammates had to elevate their play on the back nine of the Cherokee Valley Golf Club during Tuesday afternoon's second round.

"On the No. 9 tee box, my coach (Mark Enis) told me I needed to pick it up," Reeder said. "I figured, if I wanted another state championship, I had to get my head together.

"Everything just fell together."

The Tupelo sophomore fired a 29 on the final nine holes, including tallying six straight birdies on holes 10-15, to complete the second round with a 69 and finish both rounds of the MHSAA Class 6A golf state championships with a 143 total - good enough to find himself in a three-way tie for second place with Hancock's Alexander Grannon and DeSoto Central's Chad Cupples.

Although the 16-year-old Reeder ended up third overall following the second-place playoff, his Golden Wave team wouldn't have held off DeSoto Central - the same team the Wave lost to in its division tournament this year - if it wasn't for his brilliant performance.

The Wave led DeSoto Central by a stroke after Tuesday morning's first round. Tupelo shot a 300 in very windy conditions for the opening round, which was originally scheduled to be played on Monday, but was postponed to Tuesday morning due to rain.

The Wave had to be better in Tuesday afternoon's second round to ensure another state title, and that was going to be tough considering that they had to play 18 holes that morning.

By the late afternoon, however, Enis could relax as his five golfers - Noah West, Nick Rainey, Austin Rose, Fletcher Johnson and Reeder - shot a collective 13 under par on the last nine holes of the second round. The Wave finished with a 586 total - to the amazement of their competition - five strokes better than second-place DeSoto Central.

"I can't say enough about these guys, how they fought through the long rounds today," Enis said of his team, which shot 2-under at the Olive Branch golf course. "They played since seven o'clock this morning. They played for nine straight hours.

"It was tough on them mentally and it's good to see young kids that age overcoming adversity."