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VASSALBORO — Last season ended in heartbreak and disappointment for the Nokomis golf team, as a disqualification at the qualifying meet prevented a strong Warriors team from making a run at its first state championship.

They got a chance to make up for it Friday. And the Warriors didn’t miss it.

Behind a 4-over 76 from individual champion SJ Welch, Nokomis shot 333 to win the Class B title by two shots over York at Natanis Golf Course. Freeport (338) was third, followed by Presque Isle and Yarmouth (346).

Welch was followed on the team by Caden Chretien (81), Daegan Trafton (87) and Owen Buck (89), and he edged Gardiner’s Jack Quinn by one shot for medalist honors. The girls’ title was shared by John Bapst’s Vivi Nemeth and Lake Region’s Kathryn Peterson, both of whom carded 95s.

“It’s storybook. It’s a storybook ending,” Nokomis coach Matt Brown said. “We really felt like we had a good chance to win the whole thing last year. To overcome all that and be the champs, it’s just an incredible feeling.”

Welch mistakenly played the wrong ball at last year’s KVAC qualifier, resulting in a disqualification that dashed Nokomis’s chances at making it to states. From the start of what became an undefeated season that led to a KVAC championship, the Warriors were determined to show what could have been.

“It just gave us more motivation this year to come back and be stronger,” Welch said. “This is probably the hardest we ever worked.”

This time, Welch was more than happy to play the central role. The Nokomis senior was steady, making up for an inconsistent putter with superb ball-striking to finish with two birdies, four bogeys and no doubles or worse.

“I haven’t hit it that good in a long time,” Welch said. “I just really trusted it today. I just played to my capabilities and played to my strengths.”

Brown knew his ace was going to have to be good. And he had a feeling he was going to deliver.

“I told him before the match today, I said we’re going to get on your shoulders and you’re going to take us to the promised land,” Brown said.

Chretien, who had a 70 in the qualifier, was solid in the mid-50s chill to help the Warriors fend off York, which got a 79 from Liam Connors, an 81 from Riley Butters, an 86 from Lachlan McMorris and an 89 from Bancroft Potter, and Freeport, which got a 78 from Ryan Savona as well as scores from Ryan Nihill (83), Gavin Konecki (85) and Carter Costello (92).

“It’s surreal, really,” Chretien said. “(A title) was as high on the radar as it could be. Every practice, almost every time we could, we were talking about it, we were hoping we would win.”

Presque Isle’s Liam Orkins (81) tied Chretien and Butters for fifth, while Nihill, Lake Region’s Reid Plummer and Gray-New Gloucester’s Henry Stone (83) tied for eighth.

Quinn, the reigning Class B and New England champion, struck the ball well all day and hit 11 of 14 fairways and 14 greens, but an uncooperative putter made for a frustrating day. He was even through 12 holes, but struggled closing out his round.

“I hit a lot of putts that I was just like ‘How did that happen?'” he said. “Today just wasn’t my day. I didn’t roll it well, I really missed a lot of putts that I should have made and I didn’t hit a lot of good drives that should have been in the right spot.”

Nemeth, who just picked up golf this year, notched three pars to earn a share of the girls’ title.

“I never thought this would happen,” she said. “I think it’s fun to see where I can go with it. I think I’m definitely more interested in that now.”

She tied Peterson, who acknowledged mistakes but negated them with a birdie and three pars.

“I thought I was going to do pretty decent, but towards the end I was thinking that I was not going to be anywhere near it,” she said. “I started out pretty good with my short game. … It was getting worse towards the end, but not bad.”