KENT —Experience and camaraderie.
They explain why Ravenna High School will be making its first appearance in the Division II Northeast District Bowling Tournament after years of falling short as a Division I team
“We’ve spent the last month dealing with this shot in practices and in tournaments,” Ravenna head coach Kelly Champ said after the Ravens topped a 12-team field during Friday’s Tri-County Division II Sectional at Spins Bowl Kent.
“We’ve had a lot of looks at it, and at the same time, we’ve been able to change the way we look at it. And we made spares … they are so important on this shot.”
The Ravens, who were never out of the top three all day, finished with 4,058 total pinfall to claim the title by 15 pins over second-place United Local (4,043), Joining Ravenna and United in the district will be Garretsville Garfield, which took the third spot with 3,837, just 11 pins ahead of fourth-place Peninsula Woodridge (3,826).
Individuals advancing included a pair of East Canton seniors — Zach Bibey (618) and Andrew Wade (604) — and Rootstown senior Nick Neiswanger (618).
Champ, who has four seniors on her varsity team, said three of them — Parker Addison, Kevin Robbins and Jacob Champ — have been bowling together since they were 8 years old.
“It makes a difference. These guys know each other so well that they know when a ball doesn’t react the way it’s supposed to,” Kelly Champ said. “We know what adjustments we have to make from there.”
The Ravens, who shot 243 and 245 during the six-game Baker System round, had the former and a 146 their final two to pass United, which had 190 and 164 in its final two games. Ravenna had the high Baker series of 1,172, just 16 pins ahead of the Golden Eagles.
United led after the three regular games with 2,886 — just one pin ahead of the Ravens.
Adison led the Ravens with a 651 series, good for second overall, with Robbins adding 625 and Champ having 568.
FIRST TRIP FOR UNITED
The 5-year-old United program will be making its first district trip after senior Chris Combs topped the tournament with a 699 series, including a tourney-high 256 in Game 3.
“I just threw it hard and straight and it looked good,” said Combs, whose target area was from the 11th board out to eight. “It was only 14 (miles per hour) or 15, but it’s hard for me.
“This was definitely our goal coming here. It’s our first time.”
Junior Ethan Hively backed up Combs with a 594 series after shooting just 165 in Game 1, and freshman Josh Hawkins had 560.
“We set a goal for the boys before we got here and just guessed a number,” United head coach Gary Herold Jr. said. “We said it we shot 4,200 it would guarantee we would get out, and we were close.
“Chris Combs led the way and Ethan Hively bowled real well. The team just came along and I knew we had a chance.”
United had seen the sectional-district pattern just once during the Struthers Super Bowl Baker Blowout last weekend.
“During practice, we just let them see where they needed to move to. Some of our two-handers, we had them swing it from 15 (board) to 10 to see if it would come back and react,” Herold said. “Our other guys played straight up eight all day. It was just easy for us to do.”
Garfield, which had just a one-pin lead over Woodridge heading into the final two Baker games, shot 168 and 193 to Woodridge’s 189-162 to earn the district spot.
Sophomore Brody Justice led Garfield with 570, followed by senior Dylan Justice with 561.
HORNETS SEND PAIR
East Canton’s Bibey and Wade finished fourth and sixth, respectively, to gain individual spots. The top three individuals not on advancing teams reached district.
Was Hornets boys coach Todd Thomas surprised to earn a pair of individual spots after East Canton finished eighth in the team standings?
“I honestly felt we had a shot at one and that a second one was a possibility,” Thomas said. “They really came through today and bowled well. Zach missed three spares in the second game, and I told him I knew he was close. Then he stayed clean the last game to get out.”
All of the coaches agreed on their strategies leading up to the Division II district tournament, set for 10 a.m. Feb. 24 at Stonehedge Family Fun Center in Akron.
“We’re going to get in as much practice as we can and keep doing what we’ve been doing … working on spares,” Champ said.
“It’s all about spare shooting, so we will put down different shots to see what we can do,” Herold added.
Thomas said spare shooting is something he has preached to the Hornets all season.
“If Zach covered a few more, he might have led the tournament. They are starting to realize the point of making spares,” Thomas said. “We’ve been preaching it all year, but you don’t know when it’s going to take hold.”
Next up is the Division II Tri-County Girls Sectional at 10 a.m. Monday, also at Spins Bowl Kent.
NOTEBOOK: As with all OHSAA postseason tournaments, tickets are sold only on line and are $8 for adults and $6 for students. … Friday’s event was the first postseason tourney in the Northeast District, with the remainder of the events set for Saturday and Sunday. Division I is next weekend. … There were just seven 600 series shot by the Division II boys on the OHSAA sectional-district oil pattern, with the top seven finishers being all seniors. .. Garfield is hoping to make its first state appearance since 2011, before the OHSAA went to to two divisions.