D3 Champs Emerge After Rough Starts
March 5, 2016
By Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half
JACKSON – Daniel Higgins of Olivet and Kayla Jackson of Flat Rock made their first appearances in the match-play portion of the MHSAA Division 3 singles bowling tournament Saturday at Airport Lanes.
The lack of experience in the MHSAA Tournament – and a subpar start in their qualifying rounds – did not slow them down a bit.
Jackson, a Regional champion, exploded for a 706 series in the final three games of the six-game qualifying block to earn the No. 2 seed for girls. Higgins, meanwhile, had games of 235 and 238 in the fourth and fifth games of qualifying to grab the No. 12 seed in match play.
From there, they rolled to the titles, although there were challenges along the way.
Higgins, a junior, defeated Bailey Neal of Battle Creek Pennfield 404-340 in the two-game championship match. Higgins led by five after the first game but wrapped up the championship with six strikes in a row from the third through eighth frames of the second game.
“I was struggling with my release throughout the day,” said Higgins, a right-hander who averaged 200.7 over 14 games Saturday. “Once I found the release that I was consistent with, I could follow through more consistently.
“I struggle with being consistent with my hand, so it was a struggle to keep it consistent all day.”
The road to the championship wasn’t easy for Higgins as he faced two opponents with a history of success in the MHSAA Tournament.
Higgins opened match play with a 377-363 victory over defending champion Tyler Kolassa, and in the Quarterfinals, Higgins topped Jonesville lefty Jonah Root 395-385. Higgins needed a mark in the 10th frame of the second game to defeat Root, a semifinalist a year ago.
In the Semifinals Saturday, Higgins had back-to-back games of 211 and 226 to defeat Robbie McKinnon of Birch Run 437-396. Neal, who had the second-highest Regional score in Division 3, awaited Higgins in the final.
Neal had a slight lead going into the 10th frame of the first game, but Higgins threw a double and 8-count for a 188-183 victory. Then he used the six-bagger in the second game to breeze to the 64-pin victory.
“Coming in, I just wanted to make the top 16,” Higgins said. “I’ve been in situations before when I get placed into a bracket and come out in the first round or second round and go home, but today was totally different.
“I was able to keep my composure throughout the day and come out with the championship.”
Higgins, who averaged 184 in his high school league, was trying to take it all in after the final match.
“I definitely didn’t think this was going to happen,” he said. “I just took it one shot at a time. I didn’t try to set any goals, I just came in and tried to execute. I’ve been doing well this past month.
“I’m just trying to keep calm, and it’s probably going to hit me sooner or later. Right now, I’m still trying to keep myself from freaking out and destroying the place.”
Jackson, a senior, struggled in her second and third games of qualifying before making a big adjustment.
“I did a ball change because I bowled a 148 my second game and I bowled a 175 in my third,” she said. “I changed my ball and moved to the right and it just happened to work out.”
Saying “it just happened to work out” is an understatement. Jackson finished qualifying with games of 268, 215 and 223 for a 706 series – the first 700 of her life. Jackson, who carried a 182 average this year, averaged a shade below 207 for the six-game qualifying block.
“That gave me a lot of confidence because I knew I found my line on the lanes,” said Jackson, a right-hander who averaged 201.4 for the 14 games Saturday. “As long as something didn’t change dramatically, I knew I was going to be pretty set for the day.
“I kept the same line the rest of the day and just had to make some small adjustments.”
Jackson won her first match 369-347 over Kylie Helms of Ovid-Elsie and ran into Alma freshman Sarah Gadde in the second round. Gadde, a member of the Alma team that won the team championship Friday, opened with a 10-pin victory over Jackson, who rebounded with a 213 in her second game for a 378-350 victory.
Jackson wasn’t seriously challenged in the Semifinals as she used a 240 second game for a 401-319 victory over Mikayla Kewley of Menominee. Jackson kept her momentum into the championship match, and her opponent, Sabrina Ball of Coloma, proved to be a tough opponent.
Ball had an early four-bagger in the first game but had three open frames in the final four as Jackson secured a 205-182 victory. But Ball wasn’t finished as she had five strikes in her first seven frames of the second game to make it a tight match. She ran into a split in the eighth frame and failed to convert, and Jackson took advantage of the opening.
Jackson, who had struck in the ninth, just needed five pins in two shots in the 10th to win the title, and she won it in style with a strike as she finished with 225 and a 430-400 victory.
“It felt good. I was so happy,” Jackson said. “I was nervous. I knew I had to get some strikes in a row, but I was making my spares.”
It was the third appearance in the Singles Finals for Jackson, whose previous finish was 18th when she missed the cut by 16 pins a year ago.
Aside from the championships, the big news of the day was a 300 game thrown by Freeland senior Brendan Welsh. It was the eighth 300 game thrown in the MHSAA bowling singles tournament and just the third since 2008.
The perfect game came in Welsh’s sixth and final game of qualifying and helped him earn the No. 1 seed with a 1,302 total. He lost in the Quarterfinals to McKinnon, who finished his second game with five strikes and an 8 count to beat Welsh by three pins, 397-394. Welsh had won the first game 211-171 but went home with the second 300 game of his life.
“At the beginning of the game, I moved a board left because the lanes had dried up a little bit,” he said. “I just hit 10 board all day.
“I was dead flush except for the first one in the 10th frame – it was a stone 7 pin, but a pin came down and hit it off the lane, and I was like, ‘Whew.’ The second one in the 10th was dead flush, and the third one I came in a little bit high and a pin slid across the lane and knocked down the 6-10.”
Welsh, who averaged 215 this season and had his first 300 game in October at Starburst Lanes in Saginaw, said bowling a perfect game in front of a large crowd for the MHSAA Tournament was challenging.
“It was nerve-wracking,” he said. “I was shaking and trying to breathe in and out and stay calm. I just did what I had to do.”
Click for full boys results and girls results.
PHOTOS: (Top) Flat Rock’s Kayla Jackson and Olivet’s Daniel Higgins. (Middle) Freeland’s Brendan Welsh. (Photos by Chip Mundy.)
Eastern, Kearsley Write Winning Endings
March 4, 2016
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
CANTON — The movie McFarland, USA was based on the real story of a championship cross country program in California, but embellished one important detail.
For the sake of drama, Disney condensed the championship-building process into only one season for the fledgling program. In reality, it took eight years for McFarland to win its first state title.
The story of the Lansing Eastern boys bowling program reads like a work of fiction, but is a true story that doesn't need Hollywood to jazz it up.
In only the second season after their program was restored, the Quakers won the MHSAA Division 2 championship in a showdown with two-time reigning champion Flint Kearsley on Friday at Super Bowl. Eastern had a score of 1,444 to Kearsley's 1,288.
"We were definitely gunning for it this year, for sure, but in the back of our minds we weren't expecting to win it, especially in this kind of fashion," said Dennis Crump, who rolled a team-best 246 for Eastern in the regular game. "It's definitely nice to win it."
It was the first MHSAA championship for Eastern's athletic program since the softball team beat Warren Cousino, 8-0, to capture the 1981 Class A title.
Kearsley's girls were able to successfully three-peat, beating Jackson by a score of 1,249 to 1,111.
Kearsley is a tournament-tested program, but Eastern didn't even have a program for three years from 2011-12 to 2013-14. In their former incarnation, the Quakers never sent a team to the MHSAA Finals, though they did have four individual qualifiers from 2007-11.
Current coach Billy Salazar has no idea why Eastern dropped bowling, but he knew the school needed to put a team back together when he saw the level of talent coming up in the ranks. The Quakers finished fourth in the Regional in their first season back, one spot behind Ionia for the final berth in the MHSAA Finals.
"We had a core of guys who were going into their freshman year," Salazar said. "A mom wanted high school bowling, so I thought it would be kind of a shame to let that kind of talent not have a bowling team. When she asked me to coach, I agreed to coach. We were very close last year to getting through the Regional, and everybody came back."
It was anybody's championship to win following two Baker games, as Eastern held a 452-445 edge over Kearsley.
"That Baker set, we knew we had to keep it close, because we knew they were going to give us a run for our money in the team game," Crump said. "During the team game, a lot of our guys stepped up and we went on a run and just sailed on that momentum."
It was still a close match through six frames of the regular game, with Eastern leading by 22 pins. The Quakers broke it open from there to knock off the Hornets, who beat Eastern by 110 pins to take the Regional championship.
"Our team chemistry was really off," Eastern senior Victor Riojas said of last year's team. "It took a lot of time for us to get the bond we have now."
In the final game, Crump rolled 242, Juan Medellin 212, Riojas 202, Justin Genson 182 and Kyle Lewis 150 for Eastern.
Phil Hawes rolled 190 to lead Kearsley. Brandon Wheeler rolled 184, Zach Timm 158, Brice McKerchive 157 and Chad Stephen 154 for the Hornets.
"We kind of ran into a buzzsaw," Kearsley coach Bart Rutledge said. "We made a few mistakes, and they capitalized on them and built on them. We just weren't able to keep up."
In the girls tournament, Kearsley won its fourth championship in the last five years. Only the boys cross country program, with five, has won more MHSAA titles for Kearsley than the girls bowling team has managed in the 13-year history of its sport’s tournament.
A fifth title could be coming soon for the Hornets, as they were led by freshman Alexis Roof, who rolled a 200. No. 1 bowler Hannah Ploof had an off day, rolling a combined score of 161 with freshman Mary Wheeler, who had a spare after Ploof's strike in the 10th frame. Karlee Griffin was the primary bowler in a score of 164, which she split with Emma Boychuk. Barbara Hawes was the main bowler who split a 158 with Kayla Ward. Alexxa Flood rolled a solo 150.
Roof had five strikes and three spares in the first eight frames before rolling a gutter ball in the ninth. She turned away from the lane, put her head down and laughed. She could afford to when she was bowling so well and her team had built a formidable 416-262 lead after two Baker games.
"I was just kind of like, 'Whatever, I'll come back the next frame,'" Roof said. "I had a good feeling that we had it after those Baker games.
"I was kind of nervous at first, but then I remembered the coach kept saying to act like it's just a practice, it's not that big of a deal. I went out and did what I could; I did my job."
Kearsley coach Robert Ploof knew all about Roof before she got to high school, because he is best friends with her father.
"I was thinking about retiring this year, because my daughter is gone, but I've got to stick around because his daughter is here," Ploof said. "It's just an incredible feeling; winning never gets old."
Hannah Ploof is the only member of the team to compete in the Finals during each of Kearsley's three straight MHSAA championships. Her 238 last year in the Finals carried the team. On Friday, she rolled well below her average of 220.
"It's a team thing," Ploof said. "My team had to hold me up; that's what they did. They did what they had to do."
In the Regional, Kearsley finished second behind only Mason. Mason finished 11th in qualifying, three places below a berth in the Quarterfinals.
"We had a really young team this year, but we did it," Ploof said. "We started out winning the conference. We got to Regionals and had a rough day there. We finished second, but we did it. I'm so proud of them."
Jackson hadn't reached the Final in an MHSAA bracketed sport since the 1980 girls basketball team lost 52-46 to Flint Northern in the Class A championship game. After reaching the Semifinals in 2014 and the Quarterfinals in 2015, the girls bowling team made it to the final by beating Charlotte by a 1,284 to 1,231 margin in the Semifinals.
"They're a great team," Jackson coach David Rodriguez said. "That's why they're three-peat champs. We gave it what we had. I think my girls ran out of gas. It was a great ride this season. I've got four coming back. I see they're only losing two, so we'll do it again next year."
Jackson's Joz Hunt had the best score of the final, rolling a 212 that included four straight strikes in frames six through nine. Callie Mollitor rolled 198, Kaylee Collier 164, Morgan Bradley 146 and Jamie Bleiler 129 for Jackson.
Click for full boys results and full girls results.
PHOTOS: (Top) Lansing Eastern’s boys bowling team. (Middle) Flint Kearsley’s girls bowling team. (Photos by Bill Khan.)