No More 'Just Misses' for D2 Champions
March 1, 2014
By Sarah Jaeger
Special to Second Half
WATERFORD – What a difference a year makes.
After the 2013 Division 2 Singles Finals, Alex Ouellette from Bay City John Glenn left Century Lanes after coming in second place, vowing to return and win it all.
Fast forward to Saturday, and Ouellette is the 2014 boys champion.
"I knew if I stayed slow and made good shots, I could beat anyone and that's all I had to do," Ouellette said.
The senior cruised through the morning block, even shooting a 300 in the fourth game, and qualified first with a score of 1,463.
"I kind of didn't realize I had the front 8 because I was focused on being consistent and making good shots," Ouellette said. "Then it just came down to the 10th frame, and it was just three more strikes."
"He never really struggled throughout the day," Bay City John Glenn coach Craig Block said. "After those first couple matches when we got up there and shot the 300, I'm sure he felt on top of the world because I did."
In the first round of match play, Ouellette edged junior Anthony Kelley of Flint Kearsley by just five pins. But it was smooth sailing as Ouellette then went on to beat sophomore Chad Stephen of Kearsley in the Quarterfinal and junior Cody Wilkins in the Semifinal.
However, Warren Fitzgerald senior Alec Nunn was waiting for him in the Final to settle a score from 2013.
"He beat me out last year, and I wanted to get another chance at him again," said Nunn of his loss to Ouellette in the previous year's Round of 16. "Runner-up doesn't feel too bad, but I wanted another shot at him."
While each bowler has his unique style and form, Nunn has an uncommon approach, throwing right-handed and sliding on his right foot.
"I asked him when he first started, ‘Do you want to change?’" Warren Fitzgerald coach Rick Schultz said. "He said no, so we just worked with what he had and everything has worked out fine for Alec."
Ouellette got out to an early lead with a 248 to Nunn's 177 in the first game. Even though the second game margin was only two pins, Ouellette had too big of a lead and won his school's second singles title with a match score of 479-410.
While both boys finalists were looking for redemptions on the lanes this year, they were not the only ones.
Tecumseh senior Lauren McKowen missed making it into last year's Finals by one pin and had to watch as teammate Jordan Richard won her second straight singles championship.
But instead of setting her sites on the top prize like Ouellette, McKowen decided to take it one step at a time.
"I just wanted to take it day by day, senior year try and make it your best and that's what happened,” McKowen said.
She placed fourth in the Saturday morning qualifying block and proceeded to beat senior Alysha Sobeck of Gaylord and senior Katelynn Maxwell of Flint Kearsley in the bracket.
McKowen had to beat Richard in the semi to get in the Final. After the first of two games, only two pins separated the teammates. But in the end, McKowen was able to pull out the win 481-431.
"I am the one coach that's not shy about saying I hate singles, and it's for that reason," said Ken Richard, one of Tecumseh's coaches and Jordan's father. "It's tougher for me than most coaches because one was my daughter. But you know the girls have grown up together inside a bowling alley. This wasn't their first head-to-head match, and Lauren came out on top."
With McKowen hoping to become the fourth individual singles champion for the girls in school history, she still had to face Samantha Knight, a senior from Richland Gull Lake, a team in only its fourth year having a bowling program.
"I never really thought when I started my freshman year with our small teams that four years later I'd be here," Knight said.
Knight qualified in the 11th position from the morning but wasn't going to let one bad game get her down.
"She bowled a 133, which just plummeted her scores down," said her coach and mother, Hilary Knight. "But she found her ball, found her line and just kept on going. I know that can really throw you one way or the other, but she managed to rebound."
"Fighting in a lower seed is kind of fun," Samantha Knight added. "You're kind of an underdog."
The "underdog" took the edge in the first game and won 177-174. However, McKowen came back with a 214 in the second to Knight’s 209 to win the match by three pins.
"I still can't believe," McKowen said after the match. "I just can't believe it's true right now.”
Click for full boys results and full girls results.
PHOTOS: The MHSAA Division 2 Finals boys and girls medalists.
Jack Pine Powers Shepherd, Gladwin Sweep D3 Championships
By
Tim Robinson
Special for MHSAA.com
March 5, 2022
JACKSON — Dave Carson’s Shepherd girls team had been knocking off higher seeds all afternoon long, but seemed to hit a wall against Cheboygan in Friday’s Division 3 Girls Bowling Final.
“After the two baker games, we were up by about 60 pins, he said. “In the fifth frame, we were still up by about 30, and I pulled my girls together and I told them, ‘Forget about how the first five frames went. I don’t care about your scores now. Just win me the last five frames.’ And they did.”
As a result, the Bluejays, who had never competed in the MHSAA Tournament, or even won a conference championship, are Finals champions.
“It was closer than it needed to be,” Carson joked.
The Bluejays, who squeaked into the quarterfinals by 18 pins over Boyne City, ousted top seed Kent City by 12 pins and No. 4 seed Flint Powers by 23 before downing sixth-seeded Cheboygan in the final, 1,041-987.
“We started faltering a bit in the middle of the last game,” Carson said. “They were getting tired. Both teams did. You could see it. We just weathered the storm a little longer than they did.”
It was the first bowling state title for Shepherd, and Carson admitted it came as a surprise to him.
“They had the potential to do it,” he said. “They had the potential last year, but didn’t gel as a team. This year, they gelled as a team all season.”
The Bluejays won the Jack Pine Conference title for the first time, then finished third in their Regional to punch a ticket to Jax 60, site of the Finals.
There was a certain bit of familial ties as well.
Carson’s cousin, Kendra Walch, was one of the Bluejays’ top bowlers, and he went to high school with Josh King, the coach at Mid-Michigan Community College whose daughter Amelia was a team member.
Amelia King was in the starting lineup for Shepherd, while Walch rolled a 187 to lead Shepherd in the final. Walch and Sara Montney took turns leading the team throughout the day.
“I told them throughout the season they had the potential to do it,” Carson said. “This was beyond my expectations to bring a team here the first year and win the whole thing.”
The future looks bright for Shepherd. Montney is a sophomore and Walch a junior.
“It’s a great feeling,” Carson said, laughing. “Everything seemed to come together this year. They started acting as a team, more than as individuals.”
Shelby Rolston was the only senior on this year’s Shepherd team.
“I’ve had her for four years and watched her grow,” Carson said. “It all came together, and I’m glad I was able to win it with her.”
It was the first trip to the final for Cheboygan as well. The Chiefs downed No. 3 Jonesville by 30 pins and rolled past No. 2 Hudsonville Unity Christian in the semifinals.
Jenna Knaffle had a game-high 210 and Izzy Portman rolled a 171 for Cheboygan.
Gladwin’s boys bowling team was the top seed after qualifying and the Flying G’s acted like it down the stretch, beating Midland Bullock Creek by a wide margin to take their second Finals title in four years.
“The first match (against eighth-seeded Armada) was kind of close,” Gladwin coach Kent Crawford said, “but we persevered and kept picking up spares.”
Gladwin then dispatched Standish-Sterling by 126 pins in the semifinals before taking the title with a 1,287-1,110 victory over Bullock Creek.
It was the third overall Finals title – all sports included – for the Flying G’s, who won the Class C girls basketball title in 1975.
Friday’s title had a family connection. Ethan Weston was on the 2019 champ, while Brady Weston is a mainstay on a Gladwin team that saw four bowlers roll a score of 200 or more. Weston had a 200 in the final.
But it was a freshman who led Gladwin on Friday.
Brayden Phillips rolled a 211, second only to JR Phillips’ 225. Gladwin rolled a 993 as a team in the final round, which was more than enough to overcome a 72-pin deficit after Baker play.
“We said, ‘Man, we need to get to work,” Crawford said. “They’re going to give us a run for our money. They were ahead of us for a little while until about the fifth frame, and then we started striking and you could tell they were getting fatigued.”
Meanwhile, the Flying G’s were getting a little too quiet for Crawford’s taste.
“I started to raise my voice to keep them pumped up,'' Crawford said. “Our guys started to sit down, and I said, ‘Boys, you’ve got to stand up. Let’s go!’ I wanted to keep everyone moving, and they came through. They started striking and having a good time and hollering and yelling and we passed them.”
But, Crawford said, the match wasn’t decided until the 10th frame.
“It could have gone either way if (Bullock Creek) had gotten more strikes,” he said.
Instead, the Flying G’s went home with a trophy and Crawford with a good feeling about Brayden Phillips, whom he called his “horse.”
“He kind of came out of the woodwork,” Crawford said. “He was getting spares and strikes, and he was just on course today.”
Crawford feels good knowing he’ll have Phillips for three more seasons.
“Especially with him,” Crawford said. “The rest of the group is sophomores, so I get a couple more years with them, too.”
The Flying G’s finished second in the Jack Pine Conference.
Gladwin lost to Sanford Meridian in league play, but got its measure of revenge during qualifying. Meridian was the No. 7 seed, but was eliminated by Madison Heights Bishop Foley in the quarterfinals.
The key, Crawford said, is team chemistry.
“Most of these boys have grown up together,” he said. “Most of them are sophomores. They’ve played football together since they were 5 or 6 years old. They hang out together. They support each other 110 percent.”
Coaching is a cooperative affair as well.
Crawford, who describes himself as “the CEO,” is assisted by Dan Hagar and Kevin Van Tiem.
Bullock Creek, which was in its first Final, got there as the No. 6 seed.
The Lancers downed No. 3 Jonesville and No. 2 seed Bishop Foley to advance.
Cole Gilbert had a 158 to pace the Lancers, who saw four of their five bowlers roll a 150 or better in the final.
PHOTOS Shepherd and Gladwin bowlers send shots during Friday's Division 3 Team Finals at Jax 60. (Click to see more from Champions Photography.)