Call it a sneaking suspicion, but Albert Lea boys’ golf head coach Riley Worth knew his team was capable of outstanding golf at some point in the season.

Before Monday’s Big Nine Conference championship Worth said that his team could shock some people.

That they did Monday at the Owatonna Country Club.

The Tigers finished second with a score of 321, behind No. 4 Class 3A ranked Mankato West who shot a 307 for the title and eight strokes in front of third place finisher Owatonna.

“I just had a feeling we were going to play well,” Worth said. “Of all the things we need to have that anchor.”

After searching for that front-runner all season, Albert Lea got it in Tyler Brackey.

Brackey led the Tigers with a 77 and earned All-Conference honors for his efforts.

The depth of the team played an important role as Sam Mathiason carded an 80, Grant Stadheim and Mike Falk both had 82s and Tyler Haaland had a 86 for Albert Lea.

“We’ve always known we could play with the best in the conference and we just had to go out and do it,” Falk said. “The difference maker was getting that low score.”

Brackey finished tied for third in the event and caught fire on the back nine. Brackey birdied the first two holes on the backside en route to his round of 77.

“He made putts,” Worth said. “He has a lot of confidence in his putting right now.”

Worth was more than pleased with the results, calling it the proudest moment during his tenure as Tigers head coach, but what impressed him the most was his team’s ability to recover from a slow start and respond to difficult greens.

“There was no telling where the putts would go,” Worth said. “Very few teams kept it under 90.”

Stadheim carded a 44 on the front nine but rallied strongly for a 38 on the back nine.

“Grant’s a perfect example of what we need on this team,” Worth said. “Grant bored down and played well.”

Albert Lea came in ranked ninth in the conference, but by placing second in the meet ended up fourth overall.

“We’re definitely excited,” Falk said. “We’re starting to play our best golf at the right time.”

No kidding. The Tigers turned in three scores in the 70s two meets ago, and two in their last meet and with the section tournament Thursday they look primed for another strong performance.