High School Bowling: Northwestern girls eye another postseason run

“(Assistant coach Toby Spencer) says that: ‘We may not start out strong but we’ll be competitive at the end,’” Northwestern coach Mike Dobie said. “We knew we’d be competitive by the end of the year. That’s what we always say.”

This season Northwestern has been competitive from the start. The Warriors enter the Central Buckeye Conference bowling championships at the team to beat on the girls side. So far no one has been able to do that.

»RELATED: Wednesday’s high school roundup

»RELATED: Wednesday’s high school scoreboard

Northwestern enters with a 17-0 record in CBC play and looks to reclaim the CBC title at TP Lanes in Bellefontaine on Friday. Graham (14-2) won the Mad River Division last season, snapping Northwestern’s streak of two straight titles.

And from here on out things get a little tougher from the competition, the pressure and the lanes. The Warriors know all about that. They’ve qualified for the state tournament five straight seasons. The preparation for another run starts Friday.

“When you get in the postseason it’s a little bit different because you’ve been bowling house shot all year,” Dobie said of the oil pattern that typically allows for a larger margin for error. “When you’re bowling at sectional and district they put a little tougher shot out there. That kind of decides it all – how accurate you are throwing the ball on those tougher shots. It comes down to spares. You can throw strikes all day long on a house shot but spares are what’s going to carry you into state.”

Northwestern’s Megan Fricke leads the CBC with an average of 203.7. Teammates Allie Barrett (192.2), Kaylee Parrett (183.1) and Leah Bainbridge (175) are also among the top 10 in the CBC.

Graham’s Olivia Van Hoose is second behind Fricke with a 193.1. Among other CBC standouts are Kenton Ridge’s Jordan Rucker (192.4), Graham’s Libby Hennings (184.7) and Kenton Ridge’s Erika Haffner (177).

• In the Kenton Trail Division, Bellefontaine (12-3 CBC) leads the standings with Tecumseh (10-5) and Kenton Ridge (10-5) tied for second.

• In the CBC boys tournament, Jonathan Alder (14-2) leads Shawnee (12-3) and Kenton Ridge (11-4) in the Kenton Trail Division. Urbana, Graham and Benjamin Logan are tied atop the the Mad River at 10-5, with Northwestern (10-6) right behind.

Northwestern’s Ryan Hays leads the CBC with a 220.8 average, ahead of Kenton Ridge’s Brandon Watkins (215.9).

Other bowlers to watch include Northwestern’s Alex Bainbridge (211.6), Shawnee’s RJ Rollins (210.9), Graham’s Brady Oder (205.9), Shawnee’s Nate Fowler (205.2) and Jeffrey Isaacs (205.2) and Northwestern’s Garrett Rust (204.9).

• The Ohio Heritage Conference holds its championship meet Saturday at Beaver-Vu Bowl in Beavercreek.

Greenon’s boys (8-0) and girls (6-0) both lead the standings ahead of Mechanicsburg (7-1 boys, 5-1 girls).

Mechanicsburg bowlers hold the top three averages with Peyton Leeson (208.3), Aidan Shelton (200.4) and Eli Mayberry (199.9).

Northeastern’s Seth Boyd (194.3), Greenon’s Matthew Barton (190), Southeastern’s Travis Adkins (186.3), Northeastern’s Preston Graves (185.2) and Greeneview’s Braedan Brennaman (194.9) are also among the top 10.

For the girls, Mechanicsburg’s Madison Boggs is the lone OHC bowler with a 200 average at 200.9.

Also among the top 10 are Greenon’s Mikayla Blair (178), West Liberty-Salem’s Hailee Clifford (176.4), Greenon’s Makenzie Gossett (176.1) and Mackenzie Blair (169.3), Mechanicsburg’s Charli Hawk (162.4), West Liberty-Salem’s Katie Rollins (161.5), Greenon’s Kay Devore (160.8) and Taylor Blanton (160.1) and Catholic Central’s Emilee Southward (158).