COLUMBUS — Carrollton needed someone — anyone — to put a few strikes together.
Ravenna needed bowlers to make spares.
Both teams came up short in their quests to reach the final eight during Saturday’s OHSAA Division II Boys Bowling Championships at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl.
“We just couldn’t get anyone to get hot,” Carrollton boys coach Dave Davis said after the Warriors finished 12th with 3,160 total pinfall, 153 out of the cut to the final eight.
“No one really bowled badly, and it you would have told me we would bowl three 900 games, I would have taken our chances. But I think we maybe had one turkey all day.
“We needed someone to throw four or five (strikes) in a row and two or three guys to put a run of three or four together. We would get a double and leave a big split to take the wind out of our sales.”
Ravenna, the Northeast District champion, was plagued by spare shooting problems from the outset.
“We knew what we were up against,” Ravenna coach Kelly Champ said. “We had to bowl with Struthers, which is a slower team, and we just couldn’t get anything rolling.
“It very much impacts our attitude when they can’t get things into some type of rhythm. We just fell apart in the second game and it really hurt us.”
The Ravens, who finished 11th overall with 3,244, missing the cut by 69 pins, had the problem with the No. 2 hole in their lineup all day.
“We rotated about four guys through it and no one could make the spares we needed,” Champ said after the Ravens shot the second-high Baker System three-game series of 628. “It was a big problem. We were hoping for the best.”
Sophomore Carson Schueller led the Ravens with a 605 series and senior Jacob Champ shot 598.
TOUGH CLOSE FOR WARRIORS
As for Carrollton, the Warriors fulfilled three goals, but were looking for more.
“We start every year wanting to win our division in the Stark Conference, win the EBC (Eastern Buckeye Conference) and qualify for stats. We did all three of those,” Davis said. “The next step is doing better down here.”
Pairs differed for the Warriors across the house as they followed the same path as their girls team did Friday.
“Our second pair was weird … it kind of hooked more and everyone had to make ball changes,” Davis said. “After that in Game 3, they went back to what they saw in Game 1.
“It really didn’t matter a lot because we just couldn’t get anyone hot.”
Senior Brant George was high for Carrollton with 576, followed by sophomore Bryce Taylor with 551 and senior Kobe Green with 511.
“Out of all the Division II teams in the state, they were one of the 16 to make it here,” Davis said. “They might not want to hear that right now, but maybe after a couple of days to think about it, they will realize what they accomplished.”
COMBS’ FIRST TRIP
United Local senior Chris Combs made his first state appearance, shooting a 555 series to finish 45th overall
“We were chasing (lanes) 37 and 38 all day. He was a little nervous last night in practice and was throwing it fast and hard,” United coach Gary Herold said. “He was pretty calm today but he threw the ball a little slower the first couple of frames, just trying to keep his nerves down.”
Combs said it was more the transition of the lanes than nerves that bothered him.
“I just couldn’t get lined up. I really had to move far left and go with a slower speed with weaker balls for sure,” Combs said. “The shot was pretty much the same as practice, but with more people (eight on a pair for individuals), there was a lot more transition.”
Combs went from aggressive equipment at the start to finishing with a Motive Fatal Venom to battle the transition.
“It was a good experience for him. He’s our only senior so we’re looking for big things next year from the team,” Herold said. “We’re going to miss him though. He’s been one of the bell cows for this team.”
Among other area individuals, East Liverpool senior Nathan Kelly finished with 610 (21st) after finishing with a 229, and Indian Valley junior Daniel Grewell shot 508 (70th).
NOTEBOOK
INDIVIDUAL WINNERS: The top 15 individuals are named to the All-Ohio team, with the top five being first team. The cut for the top 15 was 632. St. Paris Graham senior Spencer Hannahs took the individual state title with 729, including a tourney-high 269 in Game 3. He finished 52 pins ahead of runner-up Mason Keck, a Clinton-Massie sophomore (677).
TEAM RACE: Ironton entered the final three Baker games in seventh place after the three regular games. But the Fighting Tigers shot just 483 during Bakers to fall to ninth, missing the cut to the final eight by six pins. That included a 147 in their final Baker game. … Clinton-Massie, which was ninth after three regular games, shot 572 to move into match play. … Coldwater led qualifying with 3,724, finishing 238 pins ahead of No. 2 seeded Liberty Center. The Cavaliers shot a tourney-high 653 in Bakers, with a low game of 204.
NOTEBOOK: Triway junior Addy Meshew shot the fifth highest Division II girls game in state tourney history Friday with her 259. Junior Emma Yoder still holds the series mark with the 718 she shot a year ago … Triway also recorded the seventh best three-game series in Division II with 2,014. … Boys teams averaged 919.65 per game for the 16-team field, and the teams averaged 534.56 for Bakers. … High team game was 1,140 by Coldwater in Game 2 with six 1,000 games shot. High Baker game was 225 by Coldwater in Game 1.