COLUMBUS — As far as Perry head coach Joe Altimore III is concerned, his team made a psychological breakthrough about three weeks ago.
The Panthers remained on an even keel throughout Saturday’s OHSAA Division I Girls State Bowling Championships and posted their highest finish ever (fourth) in their 10th state appearance, including the last six in a row.
“We’ve been talking a lot of psychology and not letting ourselves get too super high because you want to crash off that high,” Altimore said after being eliminated by eventual state champion Hamilton in the semifinal round 3-0.
“Really, the last two to three weeks that’s all we talked about. They know how to bowl, they know where to throw it, rotate and all that stuff. What they don’t know how to do is control their emotions. Trying to get these ladies and myself to do it is not easy.”
The Panthers got as high as second during Game 1 of qualifying with 912 and dropped to sixth in Game 2. They bounced back to fourth and ultimately finished sixth with 3,070 total pinfall, making the cut by 76 pins.
“I tried to be as deadpan as I could, not let what the other team was doing affect me and staying positive,” Altimore said. “That’s what contributed to how far we got. That’s the only thing we changed, and it was huge.
“Did we do it to perfection? Absolutely not, but we got further than we ever did before.”
The Panthers faced No. 3 seed Boardman in the quarterfinals and fell in Game 1 195-137 after posting four open frames.
“It’s always about spare shooting. If we make our spares, we always have a chance,” Altimore said. “All we were trying to do is keep them somewhere in the pocket and make their spares. That’s what’s going to win these matches.”
The Panthers did that in Game 2 as senior Hannah Miller made a critical spare in the 10th frame and followed with an 8-count on the fill ball for a 169-168 win.
Perry then had three early strikes in a row in Game 3 while Boardman had two open frames among the first six as the Panthers gained a 187-181 win.
Holes in both the eighth and ninth frames in Game 4 doomed the Spartans as Perry advanced 182-167 with a 3-1 win.
In the semifinals against Hamilton, Perry had three holes — all 10-pin spares — in falling 182-170 in Game 1.
Games 2 and 3 were not close as Big Blue won 168-126 and 197-143.
“We had a lot of missed spares. If we made a couple of those in the final Bakers we would have still been bowling,” Miller said. “For once, we didn’t get mad at ourselves. We stayed positive. It was different than districts.”
KING’S DAY
Sophomore Ami King turned in the top three-game performance for the Panthers, rolling her first career 600 series with 603, to finish seventh overall and earn second-team All-Ohio. It came after she got her fingers smashed between balls coming out of the ball return during warmups.
“I didn’t think I would be that high in scoring. I’m really proud of myself,” King said. “I focused on me and what I could do to help the team.
“I tried to keep my mood up even when I threw a bad shot. Spares really helped me today.”
Altimore said King was beside him all the time with the positivity aspect.
“We had to reel her back in a little (against HamiltonI), but she got it back,” Altimore said. “She was beautiful all day. She kept the ball around the pocket and was making spares, which is the name of the game.”
SAYING GOODBYE
The Panthers will be losing four seniors — Miller, Alexis Carper, Jordan Schumacher and Riley Morrison — to graduation who have known nothing but state trips.
“Jordan and Riley pretty much came out of nowhere. Jordan told me that she finally took bowling seriously and she worked really hard. When she bought in I told her positive things would happen,” Altimore said. “Riley doesn’t have a whole lot of momentum or ball speed, so she has to throw it well for it to work. When she does, it’s perfect.
“Alexis and Hannah are rock solid. They are very good bowlers, who don’t give themselves enough credit. They are hard on themselves, but I’m super excited by the progress they have made.”
Miller called bowling “one heckuva force.”
“it’s been an amazing four years, it’s been fun, challenging and I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” said Miller, who went from being a three-sport athlete as a freshman to one, good enough to earn a scholarship to Youngstown State University. “We were thinking this was our last time around. We’ve had a good group of seniors that came through here and we were losing half of our team.
“We said, ‘let’s make it a good one.’ It’s amazing. I never thought we could make the top four.”
King gave everyone a tear-filled emotional hug when it ended.
“I mainly said I loved all of them. And the ones that are going to college, I told them to bowl awesome with their new teams,” King said. “I told them it was amazing bowling with them and it was the best season I’ve ever had.”
Backing up King in scoring for the Panthers were Miller, who finished 26th with 539, Carper (35th, 539), Schumacher (311, two games), Morrison 179, one game) and freshman Kiele Poling (159, one game).
But the psychology thing is something Altimore will work on earlier next season.
“I have to work harder on this during the year, not just that last month, to get that correct mindset and, hopefully, it work,” added Altimore, who also thanked his wife, Sharon Kay Liolios, for her support.
But the ultimate goal still has not been reached.
“We want to win the state championship.” Altimore said, “We didn’t accomplish it, but it’s still the best we’ve ever done.”
NOTEBOOK
GIVING CREDIT. Altimore gave big credit to Mike Myers at AMF Hall of Fame Lanes for his team’s development. “If we need a shot to practice or anything else, he finds a way to make it happen,” Altimore said. “We don’t get here six years in a row if it wasn’t for Hall of Fame.”
TITLE MATCH Hamilton took Game 5 of the championship match 232-178 over Plain City Jonathan Alter to claim its first state title in its first state tourney appearance with a 3-2 victory. Alter was making its seventh overall appearance and was seeking its first title.
For complete tournament results, go to