WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE – Hillsboro swept boys and girls bowling honors in the South Central Ohio League championship tournaments here Thursday at Le Ella Lanes.
On the girls side, the Lady Indians were unbeaten in regular season action and carried that over to the tournament by claiming first place. Wilmington, third going into the tournament, finished third in the tournament.
“The girls were rolling the ball pretty well,” WHS head coach Josh Fisher said.
Final tournament standings for the girls were Hillsboro (2,948), Washington (2,777), Wilmington (2,689), Miami Trace (2,579), McClain (2,264), Chillicothe (2,092) and Clinton-Massie (1,664). East Clinton does not have a bowling team.
“While we don’t have enough girls to be competitive (for a team title), all of them bowled above their average and are showing improvement,” said CM coach Shonda Marburger.
For Wilmington, Sarah Waln led the way with a 539 series (152, 221, 166) while Chasity Asher had 515 (162, 157, 196). Katie Hottinger finished with 467 (159, 127, 181). Sydney Shumaker bowled a 458 (184, 134, 140) and Melanie Taylor had a 360 (114, 138, 108).
For Clinton-Massie, Brittany Fry led with a 429 (131, 169, 129) while Emily Rager had a 397 (149, 134, 114) and Jennifer Callewaert had 344 (123, 108, 113) and Kylie Harvey finished with 303 (96, 121, 86).
On the boys side, Hillsboro led Clinton-Massie by a game going into the tournament. By winning the SCOL tournament, Clinton-Massie could gain at least a share of the league title. The Falcons held a 13-pin lead after two games.
But the Indians put together a dominant 10th frame with 10 strikes and finished with 1,075 while the Falcons had 984 in the third game. Hillsboro took a 78-pin lead into the baker games.
Massie was unable to muster anything in the first baker game, while Shane Ison’s Indians continued their torrid performance with a 239 game. The put CM in a 156-pin hole, too large to rally from as the Indians took home the title.
“I couldn’t be more proud of this team,” Marburger said after the tournament. “This is the best we’ve ever finished, second place.”
The Falcons had a 1,017 first game with all five bowlers over 200, a first this season for the red, white and blue. They had the Indians on the ropes early.
“We’ve never stayed up with them like that before,” Marburger said of her squad’s performance.
Final numbers in the boys tournament had Hillsboro with 3,461, Clinton-Massie with 3,299, Miami Trace with 3,222, Washington with 3,139, Chillicothe with 3,083, Wilmington with 2,970 and McClain with 2,945.
For Clinton-Massie, Aric France shot 600 (202, 216, 182) to lead the Falcons. Kenton McInerney had a 596 series (206, 196, 194) and Joey Marburger had a 593 (202, 225, 166). Jacob Wellman came in with a 567 (205, 160, 202). Corey Potts had games of 202 and 167. Chandler Morsch subbed for Potts and bowled a 240 game.
Individually for Wilmington Zach Zeckser was the top bowler with a 5778 (196, 191, 191). Ryan Hottinger had 564 (203, 205, 156) and Donavon Brown totaled 551 (195, 189, 167). Tim Wright came in with a 487 (164, 183, 140) and Tristan Reiley finished at 439 (151, 138, 150).
“As a whole, we struggled,” Fisher said. “We just didn’t bowl well as a team. At times, we threw a couple of good shots but we couldn’t keep up with it.”
First team All-SCOL honors went to Wilmington’s Katie Hottinger while teammates Sara Walna and Chasity Asher made second team.
For the boys, first team All-SCOL went to Aric France of Clinton-Massie and Ryan Hottinger of Wilmington. Second teamers were Zachary Zeckser of WHS and Kenton McInerney and Joey Marburger of CMHS.
