The Wilmington High School boys bowling team will not be able to defend their SBAAC championship Saturday at Royal Z Lanes.
The Hurricane boys team is in quarantine. Will they have a chance to make up the league tournament? That has not been decided.
“We are currently looking at all the options we have and what to do that is best for all the athletes,” SBAAC commissioner Pat Hill said. “Nothing has been decided yet but we are actively addressing this issue.”
Bowling begins at 9 a.m. Saturday with the National Division boys and girls tournaments.
At 1 p.m., American Division boys and girls will begin competition.
On the American boys side, all six teams bowled their 10 regular season matches, with Wilmington leading Western Brown by one win and Massie five back of WHS. The Hurricane is the clear-cut favorite going in to tournament play. Wilmington has won the last two American Division championships.
But in the National boys race, only Blanchester completed its 12-match regular season slate. Georgetown is unbeaten at 11-0 with East Clinton at 3-8. Georgetown won National titles in 2020 and 2018 with CNE the 2019 champ.
For the girls, the American Division regular season is complete and New Richmond leads Wilmington by one and Clinton-Massie by four. New Richmond was the champ last season with Clinton-Massie the best in 2019 and Wilmington in 2018.
In the National girls standings, Blanchester, Williamsburg and Felicity have completed the regular season. Clermont Northeastern is 11-0 and leads Georgetown (9-2) and East Clinton (8-3). CNE won it all in 2020 and 2018 with Williamsburg the 2019 titleist.
“This has been a wild year, especially with covid,” EC girls head coach Joe Davis. said. “Many matches canceled,many matches have to be replayed at another date. Has just been a totally different year.”
One of the matches still to be contested is East Clinton against CNE on Friday. The Astros, despite being three back, still has hopes of a league championship.
”If we beat CNE on Friday, we have a good chance of winning the league if we bowl very good at the tournament,” said Davis.
Based on numbers at the SBAAC website, Wilmington’s Jordan Tackett leads the American Division individuals with a 209.4 with teammates and brother Jayden Tackett is third at 204.6. Massie’s top bowler is Tyler Keck at 191.6.
In the National, Georgetown’s Kaleb Franklin is the leader at 203.5. East Clinton’s Shawn Morgan is at 190.5 and Bryan Brewer is Blanchester’s top bowler at 187.5.
For the girls, Emily Fischer of New Richmond averages 197 in American Division matches. Ariel Comberger of Wilmington is third at 176.1. Abby Schneider is the top Massie bowler at 162.8.
In the National Division, Michayla Eifert of CNE is at 176.1 and August Morgan of East Clinton is at 168.4. Madison Pembleton is BHS’s best at 131.9.
Clinton-Massie coach Tyler Hayslip wants clean games (no open frames) from his two teams, which would allow them to compete for tournament titles.
“I have four-five bowlers in the hunt for first and second team all-league,” Hayslip said. “All five bowlers need to bowl well in the individual part of the tournament to have a chance of improving.”
