Rohit Sirosh wasn’t about to let his lead get away from him. The Overlake senior nearly did, but he kept his advantage intact when the 18 holes were completed.

“Toward the end, it got very intense. It was a really exciting round,” said Sirosh, who battled Bear Creek’s John Hayes the whole way and notched a one-stroke win in the 1A Emerald City League championship tournament on Tuesday at Bellevue Municipal Golf Course.

Sirosh topped the leader board with an even-par 71 and the Owls scored 70.5 points to take the team title, followed by Bear Creek with 46.5. Overlake also won the regular-season title.

Hayes took second at the tourney with a 72, followed by Bear Creek’s Oliver Nordberg with a 75 and Overlake’s Trent Gardner with an 83. Sirosh, Hayes and Nordberg tallied three birdies each.

Sirosh, who commended Hayes on his round, birdied the 16th hole to take a two-stroke lead, but had a bogey on 17 while Hayes nailed a 20-foot putt for par to get within one stroke. The two golfers — who competed in the same group — both birdied the 18th hole to finish out with Sirosh on top.

Sirosh and Hayes know each other from prep matches and Washington Junior Golf Association tournaments, so they bantered a bit during the league tourney, but also got into their mind zones to shoot for the top spot.

“On the 17th, I said, ‘Dang, good job,'” Sirosh noted about Hayes’ putt.

Sirosh was elated to end the fall season on a winning note, both personally and with his teammates. All the Owls shot well and exited the course one by one with smiles on their faces.

“It was great to see the hard work pay off,” said Sirosh, who focused on having fun on the course this year rather than critiquing his swing like he did last year.

While Sirosh enjoyed himself, he still played fierce golf.

“It’s really about managing your emotions and keeping your mind in check,” he said.

Sirosh is a three-time league champ and qualified for state three times.

Sirosh, Hayes, Nordberg, Gardner, Overlake’s Rish Rathinam and Seattle Academy’s David King are league first-team selections.

Overlake’s Sprague Kolp is league coach of the year, Rathinam is league rookie of the year and the Bush School won the league team sportsmanship award.

District and state competitions are in the spring.