By BILL SNIER
COSHOCTON — Joe Altimore III was not happy with his team’s performance during last week’s Muskingum Invitational at AMF Hall of Fame Lanes in Canton.
“We played the lanes terrible at Hall of Fame even though we did finish third,” the veteran Perry High School girls coach said.
So Altimore employed a different tactic during Friday’s practice prior to Saturday’s second Muskingum Invitational at Legacy Lanes and Lounge.
“We put grips on the four board and the 11th board and they had to split the grips over and over and over to get their confidence where we needed to be,” Altimore said. “We practiced them hard. But we executed way better (Saturday) and, literally, as a coach, I’m elated.”
The top-seeded Panthers stopped No. 2 seed Lakewood 2-0 in the best-of-three Baker System finals to claim the title.
In the boys division, Federal League rivals Lake and Perry squared off for the title, with the Blue Streaks earning new head coach Jeff Mowls’ first tournament win with a 2-0 victory in the Baker finals.
Both fields had eight teams, with the event again being contested on the 2025 OHSAA sectional-district oil pattern as was last week’s tourney at AMF Hall of Fame. Qualifying was three regular games and three Baker System Games before the respective fields were cut to the top four for best-of-three Baker match play.
PANTHERS TAKING ANOTHER STEP
Perry was never stopped after rolling 852 in Game 1 to take a 170-pin lead. This came despite Altimore having to make several grip adjustments to his girls’ bowling balls during the day.
“The kids are understanding that they’re not going to be able to repeat shots,” Altimore said. “But if we are in the right part of the lane and you make a board or two miss, you have a chance.
“Getting farther away from the edge (of the oil pattern) is my philosophy. The farther we can stay right away from the shim-sham, the better chance we have.”
The Panthers exploded in the semifinal match against home-standing Warsaw River View after standing 1-1 by dropping Game 2 164-132. They shot 279 in Game 3, failing to strike in the second and 10th frames.
They then shot 180 and 167 in the finals to close out the match.
Lakewood assistant coach April Streets, who filled in for head coach Scott Price, said success is nothing new for the Rangers.
“We’ve been to state two of the last four years and won our conference the last four years,” Streets said. “These girls are tough and we knew we could get this far.”
Lakewood had to go three games to stop No. 3 seed East Canton 2-1, winning the last game 173-101.
“It was tough to keep their spirits up after an eight-hour day,” Streets said, after the Rangers left Lakewood at 8:30 a.m. “But we have to go home and work on our spare shooting. Spares win games and matches … that’s what we teach them.”
Senior Jenna Boyer led the Panthers during qualifying with a girls tourney-high 598, which included a pair of balls in the gutter following a strike in the 10th frame of Game 3.
“I told her at practice that if you get confident with this, you can do this all day and you are going to mash them,” Altimore said of Boyer, who also had the high individual game of 244. “She got confident and she did it, other than those last two shots (one was off her ankle).”
Junior Arielle Clapper also added 482 and junior Alex DeVore had 479 for the Panthers as just four girls shot over 500 in the field.
STREAKS EARN WIN
In the boys division, Lake was behind Perry after Game 1 of qualifying, but then rolled to a tourney-high 1,107 in Game 2 to take the lead. The Streaks never gave it back.
“They threw the ball well all day. The first pair they were on, the ball was bouncing. But then they ate something and went 1,107 on a tournament shot and close to 1,000 the final game,” Mowls said. “They came together and did it.”
The one blip on Lake’s radar came in Game 2 of their opening match against River View when the Blue Streaks lost 130-124 to tie the match at 1-1.
What did Mowls say to his team?
“Bleep, bleep, bleep,” Mowls said, laughing. “Nah, I told them to just come out and get it together and bowl like we know how. And they went out and did it.”
Lake won Game 3 170-143 and then went on to sweep Perry 183-168 and 200-191 to claim the title. The Blue Streaks had just one open frame in each of the two games in the championship round.
“Spares are always the key. I don’t care what their confidence level is … I know what mine is,” Mowls said. “We have three guys averaging over 200 and they are giving me everything they’ve got and making me proud.”
Senior Zac Abbott topped the tournament field with 643, with senior teammate Logan Hamrick (619) and sophomore Benjamin Venus playing key roles in match play in the third and fourth spots in the Streaks’ lineup and also gaining spots on the all-tournament team. Senior Brady Tompot also shot 554.
Spare shooting was a problem for the Panthers, the No. 2 seed who finished 261 pins behind Lake during qualifying. Perry shot just 129 and 141 during their final two qualifying Baker games, but rolled 211 and 195 to stop Hubbard during the semifinals.
“That is something we are going to be working on is spares. We’re close and they’re still learning,” first-year boys coach Mark Boron said. “We’re getting there. We’re improving at a rapid rate. They are getting comfortable and we will continue to get comfortable with our spares, I’m sure of that.
“But they are making moves and it’s fun to coach this group. I’m extremely proud of them. Just improving is the key.”
Junior Eli Nave led the Panthers with 635 to finish as tourney individual runner-up. Junior Gavin Hentzell added 600 and junior Brandon Sanko had 525 for the Panthers, who were without senior Cameron Hervey due to another school commitment.
But all coaches agreed this is just another step toward the postseason.
“Our goal is to get to state and win state. This is a step toward getting that confidence and knowing we can compete,” Altimore said. “We had our best showing at the Kickoff tournament (at HP Lanes in Columbus, site of the state championships). I talked about it since last year’s state tournament and how we were going to approach HP Lanes.
“We brought in a different philosophy and it worked. We need to build on that, and once they all buy in, we’ll be fine.”
Mowls guided the Lake girls to their first state appearance a year ago. There is little doubt what the 2025 goal is.
“Everything is gearing toward getting them ready to get to Columbus,” Mowls said. “That’s what they want, and that’s what I want.”
NOTEBOOK: Lake led the boys division with 3,477 total pinfall and posted a high three-game Baker set of 542 during qualifying. River View earned the final match play spot with 2,784, 108 pins ahead of Lakewood. … Joining Abbott, Nave, Hamrick and Venus on the all-tourney team was River View’s Carter Hammersley with 630. He also posted the high game of 254, … Perry topped the girls division with 2,749, 294 pins ahead of Lakewood, which posted the high Baker series of 459. River View earned the final match-play spot with 2,314, just 15 pins ahead of Akron Springfield. … Other members of the girls all-tourney team with Boyer were Lakewood’s Amy Smith (526), Springfield’s Malaena Martin (509) and Madison Knox (4850 and East Canton’s Madison Lint (503). … The Hornets earned the No. 3 qualifying spot with 2,338 despite missing No. 1 player Logan McDonald due to injury.
MUSKINGUM INVITATIONAL
(Saturday, at Legacy Lanes and Lounge, Coshocton)
BOYS
Semifinals
(Best-of-three Baker System match play)
No. 1 Lake (180-124-170) d. No. 4 Warsaw River View (159-130-143) 2-1
No. 2 Perry (211-195) d. No. 3 Hubbard (152-158) 2-0
Championship
Lake (183-200) d. Perry (168-191)
GIRLS
Semifinals
(Best-of-three Baker System match play)
No. 1 Perry (170-132-279) d. No. 4 Warsaw River View (104-164-150) 2-1
No. 2 Lakewood (151-138-173) d. No. 3 East Canton (135-166-101) 2-1
Championship
Perry (180-167) d. Lakewood (130-148) 2-0
