One girls finalist came in wanting to start a season of high expectations with a “bang.”
Three other finalists, including both on the boys side, were hoping to see an indication of what could be in store for the 2021-22 season.
When the smoke cleared following Saturday’s sixth annual Stark County High School Bowling Conference Early Bird tournament at Park Centre Lanes, all four head coaches had some answers both for now and the future.
The No. 2-seeded Hoover boys and top-seeded Triway girls claimed titles during the event by gaining three-game sweeps during the best-of-five match-play finals.
For Triway girls coach Corby Anderson, the 3-0 victory over No. 6 seed United Local was just the start of what he sees as a big season for his Titans.
“We have high expectations,” said Anderson, whose team had games of 139, 162 and 192 en route to topping the Golden Eagles (113, 146, 143).
“We wanted to make good shots, make spares and start the season out with a bang. I told them we’re looking for a state championship, and we had to start jumping on that goal right now.”
Triway’s one-two punch of Emma Yoder (447 two-game series) and Addy Meshew (419) led the Titans to a 238-pin lead after qualifying. The Titans then swept Indian Valley and Lake during best-of-three quarterfinal and semifinal matches, respectively, to reach the finale.
United, who was led by Shyanna Goleman’s 368 series during qualifying, had to go three games in each of its preliminary matches against No. 3 seed Central Catholic and No. 2-seeded Carrollton to advance.
“This was very unexpected. This is just our third year doing this and we had never gone beyond qualifying before,” United head coach Gary Herold said. “That’s pretty awesome for these girls. Spare shooting is what took us that far.”
Hard work carries Hoover
To say Saturday’s title was beyond Hoover head coach Jeff Sabella’s expectations would be putting it mildly.
“We’ve been hammering these guys the first two weeks in practice real hard,” Sabella said, “and they really responded.”
Hoover got a crossover strike on the final ball of Game 1 of the title match from Connor Sabella to nip Triway 214-213. From there, the Vikings had games of 199 and 206 to stop the Titans (197, 201).
“He kicked out that 4-pin on that ball and that seemed to give the whole team the juice they needed to come back and have a good next game,” Sabella said.
“I’ve changed my feelings now. I expect to go to state, no excuses, after seeing how fast they have taken to coaching and doing what we’re asking them to do. I expect by the end of the season they will be on a serious roll.”
Connor Sabella led the Vikings with a 420 series as the Vikings swept past No. 7 seed East Canton and No. 3 seed Carrollton in the best-of-three match play rounds.
Triway, which was led by Aeron Meshew’s 414 series, advanced from the No. 5 seed to sweep past Lake and Jackson to reach the finals.
“We really didn’t do a whole lot in qualifying except for a couple of breaks here and there,” head coach Vince Yoder said. “We got momentum on our side during match play and really went crazy for the first two matches.
“We lose the first game by one, the second by two and the last one by five and that’s just one spare a game.”
Both boys finalists are going through growing pains to start the season.
Sabella cited inserting first-year bowler and senior Drew Roach, a two-hander, in for Baker System games and he struck on his first six shots.
“Based on what I’d seen in practice, they went far beyond my expectations,” Sabella said. “They had the right mental attitude and the right approach. I’m proud of them.”
Yoder, who will have both Triway teams in the Ohio High School Bowling Division II Kickoff Classic on Dec. 4, has three or four new varsity players teaming with three or four with experience.
“For the boys, this was really big,” Yoder said. “For the girls, this is gaining confidence. Going one and two here, there is nothing wrong with that.”
NOTEBOOK McKinley topped boys qualifying with 4,030 total pinfall, 215 pins ahead of Hoover. The Bulldogs lost 2-1 in their opening match against Jackson. … McKinley’s Zach McCutchan was the boys MVP with a 474 series, with teammate Dylan Shankle second at 442. … Triway also captured the overall school championship, which took into account the qualifying totals for girls and boys. The Titans finished with 7,152 total pinfall, with Carrollton finishing second with 6,927. … The tournament drew 18 girls and boys teams. In the girls division, Indian Valley (2,536) gained the final qualifying spot by just 12 pins over East Canton. In the boys division, Jackson earned the final berth (3,361), 153 pins ahead of Alliance. Perry had its boys and girls JV teams participate along with Green’s girls JV team.
SCHSBC EARLY BIRD RESULTS
GIRLS
Qualifying results (top eight advance): 1, Triway 3,622; 2, Carrollton 3,384; 3, Central Catholi 3,061; 4, Hoover 2,994; 5, Lake 2,939; 6, United Local 2,752; 7, Sandy Valley 2,750; 8, Indian Valley 2,536; 9, East Canton 2,524; 10, Perry JV 2,429; 11, Jackson 2,418; 12, Lake Center Christian 2,263; 13, McKinley 2,261; 14, Louisville 2,166; 15, Massillon 2,051; 16, Alliance 2,033; 17, Marlington 2,008; 18, Green JV 1,720
Quarterfinals (best of three): Triway d. Indian Valley 2-0; Lake d. Hoover 2-1; United d. Central Catholic 2-1; Carrollton d. Sandy Valley 2-0.
Semifinals (best of three): Triway d. Lake 2-0; United d. Carrollton 2-1.
Championship (best of five): Triway d. United 3-0.
Top five individuals: 1, Emma Yoder (Triway) 447; 2 Addy Meshew (Triway) 418; 3, Aubrey Taylor (Carrollton) 412; 4, Joey Boyer (Sandy Valley) 392; 5, Brooke Tucker (McKinley) 375.
BOYS
Qualifying results (top eight advance): 1, McKinley 4,030; 2, Hoover 3,815; 3, Carrollton 3,543; 4, Lake 3,540; 5, Triway 3,530; 6, Louisville 3,473; 7, East Canton 3,392; 7, Jackson 3,361; 9, Alliance 3,208; 10, United Local 3,188; 11, Green 3,177; 12, Lake Center Christian 3,132; 13, Massillon 3,000; 14, Central Catholi 2,876; 15, Marlington 2,720; 16, Perry JV 2,682; 17, Indian Valley 2,673; 18, Sandy Valley 2,427
Quarterfinals (best of three): Jackson d. McKinley 2-1; Triway d. Lake 2-0; Carrollton d. Louisville 2-1; Hoover d. East Canton 2-0.
Semifinals (best of three): Triway d. Jackson 2-0; Hoover d. Carrollton 2-0.
Championship (best of five): Hoover d. Triway 3-0
Top five individuals: 1, Zach McCutchan (McKinley) 474; 2, Dylan Shankle (McKinley) 442; 3, Tyson Baker (Carrollton) 424; 4, Connor Sabella (Hoover) 420; 5, Aeron Meshew (Triway) 414.
For more on the conference tourney, go to http://starkcountyhsbowling.org/
GREEN GIRLS TOP KICKOFF
The Green girls varsity captured honors during Saturday’s OHSB Division I Kickoff Tournament at HP Lanes in Columbus.
Green, which qualified eighth, stopped top-seeded Wapakoneta in its opening round match before earning wins oer Ashland, Miami Trace and Gahanna to claim the title.
More details as they become available.