CANTON — They were a pair of No. 4 seeds taking on premier high school bowling programs to reach their ultimate goals.
But both Akron Hoban girls coach Jim Bowling and Lake head coach Pat King had similar messages for their teams as they entered match play during Saturday’s first Varsity Sectional Warm-Up tournament at Eastbury Bowling Center.
“It came down to having to bowl our own game with our own team and our own bowlers,” Bowling said after his Knights stopped Federal League power Green 2-0 in the girls title match. “They went up and threw their shots and, if they didn’t strike, they picked up their spares and moved on.”
King’s message for his Blue Streaks, who ended a nearly 10-year drought without a tournament title just two weeks ago in Akron, was simple after trailing following Game 1 during their two best-of-three Baker System matches.
“We just told the kids its 1-0. No matter what the difference, we had nothing to lose,” King said after his team stopped Triway 2-1 in the boys title match. “Just go out there and have fun.”
Simple messages. But neither team started the day the way they wanted on the OHSAA sectional-district oil pattern used during the event.
LAKE RALLIES TWICE
The Blue Streaks, who captured the MLK Day tournament at Stonehedge Family Fun Center to end a tourney drought, shot just 863 and 865 during its first two qualifying games. But with sophomore Zac Abbott shooting 247 in Game 3, Lake shot 994 and jumped to third.
“During qualifying, they just stuck with it. They were cheering each other on, watching what was going on, helping each other to make adjustments,” King said. “That third game, we were on the pair with Triway and they saw that as a challenge.
“We were trying to keep up with them, and that brought out the best in us that game which really helped.”
It was a preview of things to come.
Ashland’s A squad had run away from the field during qualifying, shooting the only 1,000 game (1,064) in Game 1 and leading the field by 388 pins with 4,317 total pinfall heading into match play.
Then, the Arrows started the match against No. 4 Lake with a 244-160 win.
“I just told them we were down 1-0 and they shot a big game,” King said. “It’s still two out of three, try to string some things together and see where we’re at.”
The Blue Streaks did just that, winning Game 2 221-213 and putting up 192 in Game 3 to the Arrows’ 156 to advance.
The title match started the same way for Lake as Triway won the opener 236-159.
Same message, same result for Lake, which won Game 2 189-174 and completed the comeback with a 221-213 win in Game 3 for the title.
“These kids worked hard in the offseason and they enjoy being around each other,” King said. “It’s a fantastic group of kids and families this season and it’s exciting for them to be doing this.”
Abbott led the Blue Streaks with a 618 series, followed by Logan Hamrick with 586, CJ Ault 548 and Brady Tompot 535.
Triway head coach Vince Yoder could see momentum changing in Game 2 of the title match after the Titans had stopped North Canton Hoover 2-1 in the semifinals with a 270-217 win in Game 3.
“Our looseness kind of went away and we tried to help a couple of balls. Under pressure, you can’t help the ball or it will go right or left. Just little things we have to work on,” Yoder said.
“But you can’t practice this type of match play at home. That 270 was a ,huge momentum builder going into the Lake match, but I think we got a little complacent there and let our guard down a little bit. We had a couple of splits and tried to tell our kids you engage one shot at a time on every shot.
“Sometimes it works, sometimes not.”
Owen Fiesler led the Titans during qualifying with a 638 series, followed by Chad Harper (623) and Aeron Meshew (600).
Yoder said it was only the second time the Titans had seen this pattern after testing it at their home center.
“It didn’t play like this, and it won’t play like this at sectional (Medina),” Yoder said. “We have to make good shots and fill frames.”
King also sees things to work on, but the Blue Streaks got a big boost of confidence with the win.
“We’re still not where I quite want us to be on single-pin spares, so we have work to do there,” King said. “But beyond that, we have good kids who are excited and love the sport.
“We’ll see where that takes us.”
HOBAN EARNS WIN
Bowling had to pull three starters in Game 1 of qualifying after the Knights got off to a poor start.
“The whole team struggled in Game 1, but things got better as the day went on,” Bowling said. “We bowled with Triway most of the day and that might have helped. But they never let the pressure get to them.”
The Knights were off and running after that 675 in Game 1, shooting 750 in Game 2 and capping it with a girls tourney-high 922 in Game 3 to move into the top four. They earned the fourth spot in match play by 93 pins over Warren Champion.
Top-seeded Triway led qualifying with 3,594, 13 pins ahead of No. 2 seeded Ashland. But the defending OHSAA Division II state champions struggled against Hoban in their opening match, shooting just 159 and 154 to the Knights’ 165-180.
“It’s a game of ups and downs. The lanes were new for both teams, so it came down to who could find it first,” Bowling said. “We just hoped it would be us.
“Every time we moved (pairs of lanes), it took us three or four frames for the girls to figure out where they needed to be. They found it quickly, but while they were finding it, they picked up their spares. That’s all we can ask for.”
In Game 1 of the title match against Green, the Knights had splits in both the ninth and 10th frames, but held on for a 148-146 win. The Bulldogs continued to struggle in Game 2, falling to Hoban 184-152.
“The pattern really got tough. We had to adjust from where we had been playing all day,” Green assistant girls coach Alex Snowberger said. “We had to move five boards right and move everything way outside to try to get the balls to hook up to the pocket.”
The Bulldogs came out with a 133 during their opening match with Ashland before winning the final two 186-179 and 212-202 during the semifinals. In Game 2, Marissa Perrine threw three strikes in the 10th frame and then her opening strike (a crossover that blew out a potential 5-10 split) in the 10th of Game 3 enabled Green to advance.
“That just shows how great Marissa is … she’s always good for two or three strikes. Sometimes, you need those lucky ones,” Snowberger said. “I really liked how the girls responded.
“It’s the first time we really bowled on a difficult pattern so we needed a day like this.”
The Perrine sisters, Marissa and Madison, led the Bulldogs with 560 and 559, respectively, and Brooklyn Krager added 470.
Bowling liked the way his Knights, who will be bowling in the Division I sectional at Spins Bowl Akron, did not succumb to pressure.
“In Game 2 against Triway we had a freshman (Abigail Kohrs) pick up a baby split that seemed to give us momentum,” Bowling said. “We were struggling to find it after a couple of unmakeable splits.
“But these girls went up, threw their shots and were just solid.”
Carly Jones, one of the starters who were pulled in Game 1, shot 260 in Game 3 to spark the Knights. Kaitlyn Struckel led Hoban with a 555 series and Jones ended up with 472 for two games. Jocelyn McAninch, the only other Knights player to bowl three games, had 407.
“They just stayed within themselves,” Bowling said, “and went up and bowled. That’s all you can ask for.”
NOTEBOOK: The tourney featured a field of 17 boys and girls teams. … Eastbury will be the site of the Division I Stark sectional in February. … It was the first varsity event hosted by East Canton, which held its sixth junior varsity event with a full field the previous week. Hornets head coach Craig Linerode gave up coaching duties to handle scoring along with Jodi Thomas, wife of boys coach Todd Thomas. … Ashland’s boys posted the top three overall series — Luke Rhine (667), Max Oaken (664) and Landon Dreibelbis (663), with Louisville’s Landon Giesey shooting 643 to take the final spot on the all-tourney team. Ashland’s Coen Zehner had the high boys game of 276 for the B team. Only 10 boys had 600 series or higher. … Ashland’s Amelia Brown had the lone 600 series for the girls with 605, followed by Wickliffe’s Shelby Childress (596), Champion’s Krysa Dickson (573) and Marissa Perrine (560), who shot 224 the final game after an opening 147. Jones had the high girls game.
VARSITY SECTIONAL WARM-UP
(At Eastbury Bowling Center, Canton)
BOYS
Qualifying results: 1, Ashland A 4,317; 2, Triway 3,956; 3, North Canton Hoover 3,868; 4, Lake 3,768; 5, Ashland B 3,757; 6, Louisville 3,624; 7, Ravenna 3,552; 8, Rootstown 3,544; 9, Carrollton 3,544; 10, Jackson 3,287; 11, Warren Champion 3,283; 12, Green 3,262; 13, Wickliffe 3,251; 14, Akron Hoban 3,212; 15, Sandy Valley 3,138; 16, East Canton 3,051; 17, Canton Central Catholic 2,986
Semifinals: Lake (160-221-192) d. Ashland (244-213-156) 2-1; Triway (168-229-270) d. North Canton Hoover (235-195-217) 2-1
Championship: Lake (159-189-221) d. Triway (236-174-213) 2-1.
All-tournament team: Luke Rhine (Ashland A) 667; Max Oaken (Ashland A) 664; Landon Dreibelbis (Ashland A) 663; Landon Giesey (Louisville) 643.
GIRLS
Qualifying results: 1, Triway 3,594; 2, Ashland A 3,581; 3, Green 3,512; 4, Akron Hoban 3,364; 5, Warren Champion 3,271; 6, East Canton A 3,247; 7, Lake 3,065; 8, Rootstown 3,055; 9, Wickliffe 3,013; 10, Sandy Valley 3,070; 11, Central Catholic 2,878; 12, Carrollton 3,209; 13, North Canton Hoover 3,008; 14, Ravenna 2,885; 15, East Canton B 2,650; 16, Louisville 2,749; 17, Jackson 2,550.
Semifinals: Akron Hoban (165-180) d. Triway (159-154) 2-0; Green (133-186-212) d. Ashland (168-179-202) 2-1.
Championship: Akron Hoban (148-184) d. Green (146-152) 2-0
All-tournament team: Amelia Brown (Ashland) 605; Shelby Childress (Wickliffe) 596; Krysa Dickson (Champion) 573; Marissa Perrine (Green) 560.