"We just didn't get off the tee very well and we had to scramble from there and rely on our short game," said West head Coach Andy McConnell. "Luckily, our short game was good enough to get us around."
As the team made the turn to the back nine, McConnell challenged his team to respond to the pressure they were under.
"I told them, 'We've got to go. We've got to start playing and doing what we know we can do,' and they all responded really well to that."
Rose, who was second overall in the tournament to Shelby County's Candice Wiley, responded by shooting a 35 on the back nine. Johnson, who tied for third overall with a 79, shot a 38.
It would be the final few holes that clinched the title for the Lady Colts.
Rose birdied the 15th and parred the remaining three holes; Johnson turned in two pars and a birdie on the final three; and Kate Clem parred her last two. Sloane Skinner, the team's number four, had turned in a solid front-nine score of 41 in aiding her team.
After seeing his team's steely nerves after the shaky start, McConnell had nothing but praise for his team.
"I can't speak enough about all the girls and how they took the challenge of competing and turning it on and get going," he said. "And it's not that I think they flipped a switch. It's just that they focused in a little bit more toward the end of the round and realized the significance of what they wanted and needed to do. They achieved that."
And though it may feel good to relish the victory, McConnell and his Lady Colts have one more test.
"It's nice being the regional champion, but we've got one more goal. That's to be a state champion," he said.
