CHERRY TWP — Marcus Fry left his driver in his golf bag and played a 3-wood for an entire year.

The Moniteau senior golfer wasn't comfortable with the club. So, he didn't bother using it.

Playing courses with water also intimidated Fry.

Working as a cook at a Bible camp limited his chances to practice before his junior season.

When Fry's scores were higher than he wanted, he decided to refocus for his senior year.

Fry no longer worked and played golf along with Nathan Hoshak, Britton Simmons and Corey Powell five to six days a week over the summer.

“I wanted to get better and bring in lower scores,” Fry said. “I wanted the team to get better. Being No. 1 is much better than seventh or wherever we finished last year.”

Moniteau has shown quick improvement, earning two wins in Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference mega-matches.

That has put the Warriors atop the KSAC standings, two points ahead of Cranberry and Venango Catholic.

Cranberry is a half-point behind, with Venango Catholic a point behind them.

The Warriors have never won a conference crown.

Moniteau coach Sean Morrow thinks the Warriors could contend.

“I think the biggest thing for us is for our kids to keep our heads,” Morrow said. “You don't want to get complacent. With how close the top three teams are, it could be anybody's game after one match. They can't go into it thinking they've already won.”

Simmons can't get complacent. He doesn't feel like he has enough experience to be too high on his performance.

“It's only my third year playing golf, I needed to work on everything,” Simmons said. “It (the summer) helped a lot.”

Simmons led Moniteau with a 37 during its win Aug. 28 at Hi-Level Golf Course.

The group played a lot at Shamrock Golf Course, which is the school's home course, as well as Stoughton Acres and Lake Arthur.

Morrow credits Fry with making a big turnaround. Before this season, Morrow didn't feel he had shown much improvement.

Playing on the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour at courses around Pittsburgh helped him take a step forward.

“He was going against kids from down toward Pittsburgh,” Morrow said. “It got him comfortable in situations. He can't play anyone now that's going to intimidate him.”

Playing at Stoughton in particular was helpful for Fry.

It made him face playing around water.

“Last year, I was scared of the water. Not this year,” Fry said. “I know that I can hit it over.”

Simmons and Fry are pleased with how Moniteau's progressed.

Now they want to see the Warriors finish what they started.

“It would be exciting to win a KSAC title because it would be the first one,” Simmons said. “It's really important. It's something we could be proud of.”