Seniors Lead Winning Efforts in D4
March 1, 2014
By Andrew Frushour
Second Half
BATTLE CREEK – Jonesville’s boys bowling team made it all the way to the championship match at the 2012 Division 4 Bowling Team Final before falling to Rogers City.
The Comets pledged to return and win the school’s first MHSAA title in any sport.
And then, last season, they failed to advance from their Division 4 Regional.
That only added Jonesville’s resolve this winter – especially with four key seniors competing together for the last time. Their run through Friday’s Team Final was not an easy one – the Comets qualified seventh for match play, won their Quarterfinal by only a pin and trailed in the championship match after the Baker set.
But by the sixth frame of the individual games, those seniors knew.
Jonesville outlasted Ithaca 1,1153-1,094 to claim that first championship. Meanwhile, on the girls side, Vandercook Lake added its third MHSAA title in four seasons.
“It’s unexplainable, really. It’s been our goal all year, been our goal since last year. Sophomore year we finished second, and it was a goal for us ever since,” Jonesville senior Reed Baker said. “Up and down, crazy. We battled it, really battled it.”
Ithaca’s boys, who also didn’t make the Finals in 2013, dominated Friday’s tournament up until the final match.
The Yellowjackets finished first in qualifying play, then beat Burton Bendle by 241 pins in the Quarterfinal and reigning champion Riverview Gabriel Richard by 126 in the Semifinal. Jonesville, meanwhile, got by Grass Lake only 1,207-1,206 in the quarter and Sandusky by 30 in the semi.
All five Comets rolled between 160-186 in the Final, led by Drew Baker at 186. Joe Whittaker paced Ithaca with a 172.
“All along, we said we were doing it for the seniors. We said we’re going to send you off with a state championship,” Jonesville boys coach Matt Molinaro said. “As soon as we made match play, we looked like the weight of the world was off our shoulders. It was a whole different team. We really bowled badly in the morning and still made it. As soon as we figured out we made it … we just kept fighting.”
Vandercook Lake’s girls also were keyed by an incredible senior group that made its fourth straight MHSAA championship match – lead-off bowler Malloree Ambs, Jessica Bunch and Kelsea Reichard, daughter of coach Todd Reichard.
Ambs, who won the Division 4 Singles title in 2013, was the lead-off bowler in all four of her MHSAA Team Finals – and that was by design. Todd Reichard told her during middle school that she would be his lead-off some day – the bowler who would made good shots, pick up spares and give his team the lead every turn.
Vandercook Lake finished 244 pins better than the field during qualifying and won its Quarterfinal and Semifinal matches by 236 and 228 pins, respectively, before defeating Rogers City in the Final 1,273-1,031.
Ambs rolled a 203, with Bunch leading with a 244 and Kelsea Reichard adding a 180 in the championship match.
“I think it was one of the most dominating performances I’ve ever seen,” Todd Reichard said. “Any one of the three is going to bowl good, and once one of them gets lined up, I think everybody gets comfortable. They just make spares and throw strikes, and it’s fun.”
The Jayhawks had matched up against Sandusky the last three MHSAA championship matches, and Sandusky finished second to Vandercook Lake in qualifying. But Rogers City threw a wrench into another potential rematch by beating Sandusky by 37 in their Semifinal.
Nicole Bannasch led Rogers City with a 179 in the Final.
“There’s still good competition out there for us. Rogers City surprised us and gave us a run for our money in the Bakers,” Ambs said.
“Our team is young. Most of the kids we have right now are sophomores – it’s just our three seniors – and that makes me feel like they are going to (continue our run).”
Click for full boys results and full girls results.
PHOTOS: The Jonesville boys and Vandercook Lake girls pose with their MHSAA championship trophies. (Photos by Andrew Frushour.)
Performance: Flint Kearsley's Imari Blond
January 24, 2019
Imari Blond
Flint Kearsley junior – Bowling
A two-time all-stater and last season’s MHSAA Finals singles runner-up in Division 2, Blond is well on her way to building one of the most impressive bowling careers in state high school history. Sunday saw her add to the pile of accomplishments – Blond rolled a tournament-best 749 series including a perfect 300 games at the Flint Metro Championships to earn the Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week.”
Blond is averaging 219 pins per game with a match play record of 20-1 for the Kearsley dynasty – the Hornets have won five straight MHSAA Division 2 championships and carry a 115-match winning streak as they seek their 10th straight undefeated conference finish in the Flint Metro League. Blond made the Division 2 singles quarterfinals as a freshman before last winter advancing to the championship match, where she was edged by Wayland senior Sydney Urben in two-game pin fall 409-356. Her 300 game Sunday was only the fourth in Kearsley’s storied girls bowling history, and she’s also won the two other tournaments she’s bowled in this winter, with a 653 series at the Bay City John Glenn Holiday Tournament and teamed with Lawson Boshaw at the Davison Holiday Mixed Doubles Tournament.
Blond started bowling early, learning from her mother Duwana Ragland and older brother Quinton and sister Quinisha Burnett. Blond still holds the Flint youth city record with an 810 series she rolled as a seventh grader in 2015. She’s anticipating following her siblings into college bowling – both competed at Indiana Tech in Fort Wayne – and is interested in studying elementary education.
Coach Robert Ploof said: “This girl gets it. She is so mature for her age, and she totally understands the team concept and she understands that she needs each and every one of her teammates for her to be successful. She has great sportsmanship as she is always rooting on the competition as well as her own teammates. She is a natural leader and was named a team captain as a freshman; this year she is a co-captain with our only senior on the team Alexis Roof. Imari and Alexis are most likely the best two girl bowlers in the state, and they work well together and both understand their roles. Imari has a very special talent, but if you spoke to her she will not tell you how good she is – she is very humble and in fact continues to work hard to be better. Imari is going places; the college coaches are calling and showing up to watch, she will be offered a big scholarship someplace, but none of that has changed her focus. She is just an incredible teammate and just a great kid, and we are very blessed to have her at Kearsley.”
Performance Point: “I got excited (about the perfect game) because I did joke around with my coach Rob before we even started the game,” Blond said. “I was like, "I'm about to shoot 300 this game" and I actually did, so I was pretty excited about that. I was just kidding around, so I was actually really surprised when I actually did it. … I'm actually very proud of how the year is going. I didn't expect it to be this good, but I started the season off with a pretty good average and I was hoping that I could keep it up there. … Right now, I just try to get better. I feel like I can be better than I am now. I always want to be better than somebody else. I look up to other bowlers like Jordan Richard (of Tecumseh High and now Professional Women’s Bowling Association fame), or other famous bowlers, and I just try my hardest to be like them or be more than them.”
Final step: “I made a really big goal for myself to try to win (the Division 2 Finals) this year. I was ready last year, I thought, but I guess my mindset just wasn't up to where it's supposed to be. I feel like I'm ready this year though. … Thinking too much is really the worst thing you can do, stressing about it. I have my sister as an assistant coach, so she helps out more with my attitude and stuff like that, and not to think too much on things and just do my game.”
Carrying on the dynasty: “I'm really happy to be welcomed into the (Kearsley) team and welcomed into the winning streak that we have. When we won the state title my freshman year, we were already planning to win the next one the year after. That's just a mindset thing. We already have it set in our minds that we're going to dominate. I honestly think it's the team themselves. If the team doesn't get along, then they won't work together. And I feel like our team gets along very well. Our spirits are always high. Usually when someone bowls badly, there's always someone else to pick you up. And we always compete with each other, so that really keeps us up.”
Following family: “My mom used to bowl in a couple leagues, and she put my brother into bowling and he was just naturally good. We didn't have a lot of coaching. He had to figure stuff out by himself. ... I was 4 when I started, and my mom usually just encouraged me to keep it on the lane and get pins. And then, more as I developed into getting into the technical things, my brother started coaching me a little more (and) my sister got into coaching a little bit.”
Student, also teacher: “I work well with kids. I work at the Richfield Bowling Alley, and I work with kids, teaching them how to bowl. Most of them are just there to be there, but some of them really care about bowling and I like that. So I try to encourage them to do better, to go and practice more and try to get more serious about it. I tell them all the time – you can get scholarship money, you can do big things with bowling.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2018-19 school year, Second Half and the Michigan Army National Guard recognizes a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Past 2018-19 honorees
January 17: William Dunn, Quincy basketball - Read
November 29: Dequan Finn, Detroit Martin Luther King football - Read
November 22: Paige Briggs, Lake Orion volleyball - Read
November 15: Hunter Nowak, Morrice football - Read
November 8: Jon Dougherty, Detroit Country Day soccer - Read
November 1: Jordan Stump, Camden-Frontier volleyball - Read
October 25: Danielle Staskowski, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep golf - Read
October 18: Adam Bruce, Gladstone cross country - Read
October 11: Ericka VanderLende, Rockford cross country - Read
October 4: Kobe Clark, Schoolcraft football - Read
September 27: Jonathan Kliewer, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern soccer - Read
September 20: Kiera Lasky, Bronson volleyball - Read
September 13: Judy Rector, Hanover-Horton cross country - Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Flint Kearsley's Imari Blond competes earlier this month. (Middle) Blond and her teammates hoist the Division 2 championship trophy to conclude last winter. (Photos courtesy of the Kearlsley girls bowling program.)