By BILL SNIER
snieronbowling.com
NORTH CANTON — It wasn’t the championship match that Lake High School’s boys bowling team was expecting, but Pat King gave them a heads-up on what was coming.
“No, we were not expecting to see them. But I also knew they had nothing to lose … it was a free one for them kind of,” King said of meeting the Perry junior varsity in the boys title match of the 21st annual Park Centre Holiday Tournament on Sunday at Park Centre Lanes.
“I told the guys we had better come with our A game.”
The Blue Streaks earned their third overall title in the event, stopping the Panthers 3-2 in the best-of-five Baker System title match, winning Game 5 190-180.
Meanwhile, Triway earned its first tournament win of the season as the 2022 state champion topped No. 1-seeded Perry 3-1 to claim the girls title.
The event was bowled on the PBA50 Mike Aulby 39-foot oil pattern, the pattern used during the conference’s Alumni Tournament in November. The format was two regular games and six Baker games during qualifying, followed by a cut to the top eight teams in the respective divisions for rounds of best-of-five match play.
LAKE EARNS WIN
The Blue Streaks, who had finished second to North Canton Hoover during the Stark County High School Bowling Conference’s Early Bird Tournament in November at Park Centre, were expecting a return battle with the Vikings during Saturday’s title match.
But the Perry JV team had other ideas.
“We kind of wanted Hoover because they’ve always been a thorn in our side and a challenge,” King said. “But we saw the Perry JVs in the Early Bird tournament and they bowled well against us. We knew they were going to be a worthy opponent.”
The Panthers faced Hoover during the semifinals, going to a fifth game before emerging with a 217-185 win to advance. It came after Perry sent freshman Peyton Querry out against Hoover senior Chase Wensel during a two-frame rolloff following a 184-tie in Game 1 of the match. The former won by throwing four straight strikes 60-49 to get the Panthers off and running.
“Yes, I expected this. They came to win and they know how to bowl on this stuff,” Perry JV coach Mark Boron said. “We practice it, practice it and practice it, and when they throw it well, they are very capable of doing this.”
Querry again was the key in Game 5 against the Vikings, throwing a double in the 10th frame to set up another potential tie. But the Vikings were unable to strike out to make that a reality.
“We just had to tell them to throw it like in practice. In practice, we smile and high-five, and they get it and have a great time,” Boron said.
“We’ve bowled against Hoover before and they really helped our kids during that first tournament. I know their anchor didn’t carry in the 10th frame and we were able to move on, but he’s a very good player.”
In that Early Bird event, Perry’s JVs also made the cut, but due to a scoring error didn’t know it and had to be reassembled after some players had left the building. The Panthers faced Lake in a first-round best-of-three Baker match then and lost 2-1, dropping Game 3 169-164.
King knew his team was in for a battle.
“Our team does a great job working and talking together about things,” King said. “They really came together in the Bakers.”
As had happened against Hoover, there was a rolloff in Game 1 of the title match after a 198 tie. This time, Lake’s Zac Abbott emerged with a 60-18 win over Querry after the former threw four straight strikes.
The Panthers bounced back with 216-212 and 195-168 wins during the next two games before the Blue Streaks took Game 4 190-149 to set up the final game.
A 4-6-7-10 split late hurt the Panthers as the Streaks were able to secure the win.
Lucas Hilfinger led the Panthers in qualifying with 352, while Aiden Hentzell had 348 along with Querry. Warth added 338.
“Peyton is just smooth and doesn’t seem to let anything bother him,” Boron said. “We made a huge move with him, moving him 12 boards left and having him throw it out and bring it back. He was able to go between fourth and fifth arrow and got skid and hook and that gave him confidence.
“We can go nine deep at this point. They just do a great job and they listen.”
Wyatt Tatum led Lake with 394 and Logan Hamrick had 339 along with Abbott’s 332 during qualifying. The Streaks were seeded seventh, making the cut by just 32 pins, while the Panthers were the No. 5 seed.
“We were much better in the Bakers than the preliminaries,” King said. “Tatum had his season-high game (233) and did real well, and Logan got on some rolls and helped set up the anchor. We averaged about nine marks in the Bakers after only seven in the preliminaries.
“But it’s going to be tough because we don’t have another match for 11 days. We have to try to keep the motivation up.”
TITANS TAKE TITLE
Triway coach Corby Anderson called Saturday’s win “big for these girls.”
“We’re still building at this point. Yes, we still have Emily (Yoder) and Addy (Meshew),, but we still have to build things with the others. We have a lot of girls who have never bowled before.
“Morgan (Covey) is one of the new girls who has never bowled and she’s in match play in these tournaments. It’s great for her and building confidence to see her in this atmosphere.”
Third-seeded Triway topped Canton McKinley and Lake in three-game sweeps to reach the title match.
After Perry came out with a 221-185 in Game 1, the Titans had games of 160, 170 and 210 to sweep the next three for the win. In the final game, Triway had a pair of doubles and another three-strike string.
“My freshman, Raya (Fiesler) threw the ball awesome all of match play and that’s big for her. It was big for a lot of the girls,” Anderson said. “You have Em, Addy and Kennedy (Finley) who have all been there, but you can’t do it with three girls. We have to build those other girls and have options.”
Meshew led the Titans in qualifying with 345 and Yoder added 332.
Perry did not take over the No. 1 seed until the final two Baker games after chasing Green all day.
“I didn’t even know until they announced it. I was shocked we led it,” Perry head coach Joe Altimore III said. “I tell them all the time that one through eight we don’t care. We just have to get there.
“We have to be ready to change balls or find something we can do to make a run after the cut. We want them to have individual awards, but we have to get there first.”
After the Panthers swept past No. 8 seed Norton, they had to go five games to stop No. 5 seed GlenOak, winning Game 5 203-121.
“We’re trying to get that confidence in their heads to make shots under pressure,” Altimore said. “Every time we had to against GlenOak we felt the pressure until the fifth game. But as far as getting them exposed to something like that, it a win.
“This isn’t our goal. My goal is to get them experience to make shots under pressure and duress and, hopefully, that’s not that big of a deal to them anymore. Triway is a solid team with Addy and Emma and Kennedy threw it well and kept it around the pocket all day.”
Arielle Clapper led the Panthers with 381, followed by Ami King with 337, Kiele Poling with 310 and Jenna Boyer with 309.
But one thing that particularly bothered Altimore was the emotional intensity displayed by the Panthers.
“I tried to explain to them later that I’d rather us not go super screaming, excited and then have to come back down, sit, and then have to pump it up again and sit again,” Altimore said. “I think it’s too emotionally, physically and mentally draining. I’m so torn between expending energy that doesn’t need to be expended.
“I can see it if we are winning a match or a tournament, but it’s something that we normally don’t do.”
Anderson feels the win helps set the Titans up for the second half of the season heading toward the postseason.
“We’ve got four tournaments the next four weekends heading right up to the postseason. We tell them that if we make it to state and get into match play, that is what we have to work on right now,” Anderson said. “I still think we can do that, and I’m happy these girls got this under our belt.”
Altimore felt the oil pattern didn’t help his girls in their quest for the long-term goal — state.
“I wish the pattern would have had more volume to the right. The second our girls with hand in the ball hit it, it was gone,” Altimore said. “All we’ve been practicing is standing 15 (board) and throwing up five, like it was at Spins (Akron), and what it will be for sectional, district and state.
“The backends were crisp and they hooked way more. Other tournaments play tighter, but that’s what we want. We too them today to line up with the third arrow and shoot at the 10-pin.”
Anderson agreed the pattern “definitely had some friction, and with the carry down, you had to worry about some smear.”
“But (boys coach) Vince (Yoder) and I have seen enough shots over the years, and it seems like we can transfer that to their minds when we see them.”
But Anderson was thankful for one thing — the two divisions didn’t shift ends for match play.
“In the past, the boys went to the girls end and vice-versa,” Anderson said. “I’m glad we didn’t this year.”
NOTEBOOK: The event drew 15 boys teams and 13 girls, with the cut remaining the top eight. … Triway captured the trophy for the best combined score among boys and girls, with both Titans teams finishing third and finishing with 5,495 total pinfall. Hoover was second with 5,468. … Perry’s girls led qualifying with 2,642, finishing 84 pins ahead of Green, which had led most of the day. The Bulldogs, who captured the Early Bird title, fell in the first round of match play to Lake 3-1. …. Hoover’s boys topped the field with 3,014, finishing 53 pins ahead of Norton. The Vikings had beaten Lake in the Early Bird 3-2 for the title. … Hoover’s Wensel posted the high boys series (450) and game (268). The remainder of the all-tournament team included Norton’s Logan Calo (427), Canton Central Catholic’s Tim Sieber (421), Jackson’s Jackson Langton (415) and Green’s Anthony Bordonaro (414). Norton posted the high regular game of 1,073 in Game 2 and Perry’s JVs had the high Baker game of 236. … In the girls division, McKinley’s Haleigh Leggett had the high series (423) and high game (235). The remainder of the all-tournament team included Green’s Madison Perrine (403), GlenOak’s Kathryn Chech (397), Perry’s Clapper (381) and Green’s Elena Hughes (367). Green had the top team game of 881, and Triway posted the high Baker of 210 in qualifying. … Norton gained the final girls qualifying spot by 123 pins over Jackson, while Louisville was the final boys qualifier by just 22 point over GlenOak despite shooting 137 and 130 during its final two Baker games. … Perry’s junior varsity finished 99 pins ahead of the Panthers varsity, which finished 11th overall and missed the cut by 72 pins.
PARK CENTRE HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT
(Sunday, at Park Centre Lanes, North Canton)
BOYS
Round of eight
(Best-of-five Baker System match play)
North Canton Hoover (225-171-158-224) d. Louisville (173-169-176-198) 3-1
Perry junior varsity (203-168-154) d. Jackson (161-161-144) 3-0
Green (202-144-188-180) d. Triway (145-151-162-173) 3-1
Lake (199-211-184-205-158) d. Norton (159-188-202-218-134) 3-2.
Round of four
Perry JV (184-201-141-217-162) d. Hoover (1284-202-192-180-185) 3-2 (Game 1 tiebreaker won by Perry 60-49).
Lake (206-182-206) d. Green (171-142-163) 3-0.
Championship
Lake (198-212-168-190-190) d. Perry JV (198-216-195-149-180) 3-2 (Game 1 tiebreaker won by Lake 60-18).
GIRLS
Round of eight
Perry (159-154-168) d. Norton (158-113-160) 3-0
GlenOak (120-162-147-149-151) d. Hoover (137-127-107-184-105) 3-2
Triway (179-184-152) d. Canton McKinley (154-169-135) 3-0
Lake (155-152-218-156) d. Green (206-148-141-151) 3-1
Round of four
Perry (162-161-124-147-203) d. GlenOak (125-135-143-163-129) 3-2
Triway (169-168-165) d. Lake (133-150-147) 3-0
Championship
Triway (185-160-170-210) d. Perry (221-156-155-168) 3-1