By BILL SNIER
CANTON — For the four finalists during Saturday’s East Canton Invitational Sectional Warmup high school bowling tournament, it was a new experience on an oil pattern they had not seen before.
Each team came in with a game plan for the OHSAA sectional-district pattern at Eastbury Bowling Center. But as all four admitted, adjustments had to be made once they got into the qualifying portion of the event.
“There was so much oil in the middle that you had to get the ball to the right,” said Triway girls coach Corby Anderson, whose Titans fell 2-0 in the best-of-three Bakers System title match to Green.
“Sometimes when you tug shots on that 40-foot pattern they move too much. And when you project them to the right, those are the ones that flutter. When you have these girls bowl on something other than a house shot, it’s hard to get them ready for that.”
Triway boys coach Vince Yoder admitted that “if you played them wrong, there was an out of bounds” after his Titans gained a measure of revenge with a 2-0 victory over Lake in that division’s title match after the Blue Streaks won the 2023 inaugural event.
But Green girls coach Alex Snowberger, a fan of “bowling on something more challenging,” felt it helped his Bulldogs after they claimed the win.
“It’s a spare-shooting competition is what I told the girls. Whoever makes the most spares today is going to win, and whoever makes the most next week is going to win that week,” said Snowberger, whose Bulldogs lost 2-0 to Akron Hoban during the 2023 event.
“That’s what I like about it … it’s challenging. I like a hard bowling pattern and I like spare shooting.”
TRIWAY COMES OUT STRONG
It wasn’t spare shooting that led to Triway’s boys sweeping by Lake in a rematch of the 2023 finals, won by the Blue Streaks 2-0.
The Titans, the No. 2 seed following the qualifying round of three regular team and six Baker System games, received a first-round bye in match play and then swept past No. 4 seed Lutheran West 2-0 with games of 213 and 222 in the best-of-three Baker semifinals.
“This is probably the best we’ve shot Bakers this season. We’ve caught fire in matches a couple of times, but not like this,” Yoder said. “This shot is not super hard, but it’s not super easy either. To do this on a sectional shot is promising.”
Then in the title match, the Titans came back with strikes on eight of their first nine shots in Game 1 against No. 6-seeded Lake for a 253-193 win. They then finished it off with a 165-152 victory in Game 2.
“We had a game plan that involved everyone moving right and we tried to play up and in as long as we could,” Yoder said. “One we started moving left and the balls overhooked, we just balled down.
“They listened very well today and I used all eight guys on the roster. There was room for error as long as you played the right part of the lane.”
Senior Aeron Meshew led the Titans during qualifying with a 645 series to finish second overall and Owen Fiesler added 630. But Yoder also credited sophomore Dane Merckle, who came off the bench to shoot 205 in Game 2 and filled in for struggling starter Max Fiesler.
“He really stepped up where he needed to. We’ve been working real hard with him on spares, being a little straighter and not overthrowing everything,” Yoder said. “He has been doing that really well.”
Lake had to go three games in its opening match to top No. 3 seed Peninsula Woodridge, winning Game 3 201-167 after dropping Game 2 209-167.
But in the semifinals, the Blue Streaks gained a sweep over No. 1 seeded Warren Champion 220-160 and 189-180 after the Flashes had dominated qualifying by 218 pins over Triway.
“We thought we had a chance when we bowled with (Triway) during qualifying and held our own. We felt pretty good about it,” Lake coach Pat King said of Triway. “But they came out in that first Baker game and ran it and kind of set the tone.
“It was tough to recover from that.”
Logan Hamrick led the Blue Streaks with a 623 series and Zac Abbott, who came up big in the Bakers against Champion in the 10th frame, added 596.
In Game 2 of the title match, the Streaks had two missed spares and two splits that proved to be their downfall while the Titans had a pair of missed spares and one split.
The Blue Streaks didn’t have their full lineup available due to players missing because of music competitions and illness.
“In qualifying, we were up and down. We just couldn’t find that fifth score,” King said. “We brought two junior varsity bowlers who bowled significant time today. Overall, it was a really good day with the roster we brought and the effort the guys put forward.”
King was surprised by the pattern changes so early in qualifying.
“We really thought going wide and deep wasn’t coming back and then, all of a sudden at the end of the first game, it started snapping back and that kind of surprised us that it did that soon,” King said. “We figured conditions would change, but not that quickly.”
Yoder said earning revenge against Lake for last year’s loss was a benefit of the win.
“All around, we bowled pretty well as a team today. We only have three guys back from the core of our team last year and four or five new ones,” Yoder said. “Hopefully, this gives them confidence as bowlers. I know it gives me confidence as a coach that we can move around the lane when we need to, which is a good thing.”
BULLDOGS CLAIM TITLE
Green, which also fell in the title match of this event a year ago, had to win three matches to emerge as champion after finishing as the No. 3 seed.
Avenging their 2023 defeat, the Bulldogs first swept by No. 6 seed Hoban 143-117 and 137-116 in their opener before stopping No. 2-seeded Carrollton 207-150 and 190-163 in the semifinal round.
“We threw the ball much better in Baker games. We came together as a team and started playing the lane correctly for the first time all day,” Green girls coach Alex Snowberger said. “That was the difference.
“The girls started buying into each other throwing good shots. We were inconsistent all day until the Baker games.”
Madison Perrine led Green with a 615 series, while Brooklyn Krager added 472, Elena Hughes 470 and Natalie Noirot 458.
In the title match, the Bulldogs threw the last four strikes to win Game 1 194-156, including covering a 1-2-4-10 washout in the seventh frame. Then in Game 2, Green had no problem with a 176-113 win for the title.
Snowberger took the blame for the Bulldogs’ slow start in qualifying, shooting 833 as a high game.
“We hadn’t bowled on the shot and I thought we had to be closer to 10 (board). But half way through Game 1, I realized we were playing them completely wrong,” Snowberger said. “So I had our eight girls make a five- to seven-board jump to the right and we started playing the gutter.
“It worked out in our favor.”
Triway earned the No. 1 seed due to the high Baker game 200-193 against Carrollton in qualifying after both finished with 3,452 total pinfall.
After a first-round bye, the Titans stopped host East Canton in three games, winning Game 3 177-129 after shooting just 111 in Game 2 to set up the final match.
“During the Bakers it got tough to me, but that’s exactly why we bowl in a sectional preview to give you an idea of what we’re looking at. Going into it, we were throwing the ball decent and consistent during the regular games, but during the day things happen,” Anderson said. “Then we had the break waiting for the matches.
“We have to impress on them about making good shots and how important spares are. We had an idea of what we were going to do and what balls to use.”
Seniors Addy Meshew and Emma Yoder tied for high individual series with 641, with Yoder receiving the top award due to posting the higher game (233). Kennedy Finley also added 491 for the Titans.
“It was a good day overall. We’re still looking to fill those fourth and fifth spots. But that’s getting comfortable with where they’re at,” Anderson said.
Snowberger said the win was a confidence builder overall.
“Sport-shot patterns can get into their heads, but this gives them confidence they can do it,” Snowberger said. “But this is what we needed, so we’ll be good.”
And the fact that the teams saw the shot for the first time in a tournament situation doesn’t hurt.
NOTEBOOK: The tournament drew 16 boys teams and 11 girls. The field was cut to the top six teams, with the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds receiving first-round byes into the semifinals. … Champion’s boys never fell from the top spot in qualifying, finishing with 4,245 total pinfall and shooting the only two 1,000 games (1,022 and 1,068) during the three regular team games. The Flashes also had the top Baker System qualifying game of 256 in Game 5. … Champion’s Derrick Campbell was the individual champion with 651, while Garrett Martin added 633, Mario Humenik 626 and Alan Derry 600 as the Flashes posted four of the nine 600 series in the boys division. Triway’s Owen Fiesler had the high game of 255. … Carrollton’s girls didn’t have a Baker game under 168 during qualifying and took the lead from Triway after Game 5 by nine pins before the Titans shot 177 to the Warriors’ 168 in Game 6 to forge the tie. Mackenzie Rummell led the Warriors with 537, followed vy Zoey Elliott with 527 and Hailee Ulman with 509 as Carrollton was the lone team with three girls shooting 500 or higher. Rummell had the high girls game overall of 247. … Lake earned the final boys qualifying spot by 42 pins after Medina Highland shot 206 in its final Baker game to close the gap. … The top three individuals in each division received all-tournament honors.
EAST CANTON INVITATIONAL SECTIONAL WARMUP
(Saturday, at Eastbury Bowling Center, Canton)
BOYS
Round of Six
(Best-of-three Baker System matches)
Lake (190-167-201) d. Peninsula Woodridge (175-209-167) 2-1
Lutheran West (186-232) d. Louisville (177-150)
Semifinals
Lake (220-189) d. Warren Champion (160-180) 2-0
Triway (213-222) d. Lutheran West (186-135) 2-0
Finals
Triway (253-165) d. Lake (193-152) 2-0
GIRLS
Round of Six
Green (143-137) d. Akron Hoban (117-116) 2-0
East Canton (192-160-167) d. Lake (144-177-147) 2-1
Semifinals
Triway (163-111-177) d. East Canton (129-169-129) 2-1
Green (207-190) d. Carrollton (150-163) 2-0
Finals
Green (194-176) d. Triway (156-113).