Finals Dreams Come True for D4 Winners
March 6, 2015
By Mark Meyer
Special for Second Half
LANSING – St. Louis senior Riley Smith ended her first and only season of varsity bowling with an MHSAA Division 4 Finals championship and a smile as wide as Lane 52 at Royal Scot Bowl.
Smith’s high game of 190 – more than 30 pins above her season average – helped the Sharks defeat Clinton 1,197 to 1,072 on Friday afternoon for the school’s first-ever team title.
“We were very nervous,” Smith said, “but in the end we were able to relax and have fun. As a team, I think that made a big difference for us.”
St. Louis advanced out of the qualifying rounds in seventh place, 92 pins ahead of Clinton. The Sharks defeated Sandusky (1,179-1,168) in the Quarterfinals and Tri-Valley Conference West rival Ithaca (1,143-1,122) in the Semifinals en route to the title match.
Clinton, meanwhile, dispatched top-seeded Rogers City (1,087-1,057) and Burton Bendle (1,111-1,072) after having qualified for the final eight by a mere 13 pins over Flint Beecher.
“Our goal was to come in and take it one step at a time,” said St. Louis coach Kyle Woodcock, “but we almost didn’t make it through the qualifying. We struggled in the Baker games early on.
“But I told the girls, once you get into the brackets it’s anyone’s game. We covered our spares and made the shots we needed.”
St. Louis rolled Baker games of 185 and 188 before closing with a regular game of 824. Clinton had Baker games of 177 and 178, and a team game of 717.
Smith had plenty of help from her Sharks teammates: Kodi O’Boyle (177), Kaitlyn Howd (176), Jasmine Lowe (148) and Kaycee Paksi (133).
Woodcock has led St. Louis to the MHSAA Finals four times in 12 years, but this was the first time the Sharks advanced beyond the round of eight.
“It’s a pretty special group of girls,” said Woodcock, whose team finished the regular season 14-2 overall and second in the TVC West behind Ithaca. “We had a really strong team last year and everyone graduated. So, with the exception of Jasmine Lowe, this was a completely new group.”
Junior Miranda Porath, who won the singles title at the Jackson Regional, tied Smith for high-game honors at 190. Alissa Ayling (147), Amanda Briggs (147), Elizabeth Heimerdinger (132) and Ashley Richardson (101) completed the scoring for Clinton.
Sophomore Zach White, meanwhile, helped Hanover-Horton complete its ‘dream’ season by defeating Bad Axe 1,319-1,273 in the Division 4 boys championship match.
White’s strike in the final frame closed out the victory for Hanover-Horton, which got off to a slow start in the qualifying rounds but finished seventh to secure a spot in the Quarterfinals.
Hanover-Horton edged St. Louis 1,277-1,266 to reach the Semifinals, and then took down Whittemore Prescott 1,125-1,114 to gain the Final.
“Back-to-back win by 11 pins each was a little too close for comfort,” said Smith of the first two rounds in bracket play.
His match-winning strike, though, was never in doubt.
“I’ve dreamed about holding the ball at that particular moment, on these lanes, for the entire year,” said White, who rolled a game-high 247 in the Final. “I wasn’t going to let it get away.”
Hanover-Horton coach Joe Childs said afterward he thought the Regional championship the week before was going to be the highlight of the season. Trailing Bad Axe by 54 pins in the Final after the two Baker games, he decided to flip his lineup from bottom to top.
“I was going to be either a hero or zero,” Childs said.
Scott Vacek’s 212 gave Hanover-Horton a strong pair of scores at the top, but Childs was also quick to praise the games of Sam Wyckoff (188), Alex Wyckoff (171) and James McVay (168) in the 986-886 title winner.
“Last year we were more talented and had depth on the bench,” said Childs, who has recovered fully after having suffered a stroke in December 2013. “This team really meshed well. They were happy to be here and performed well.”
Bad Axe qualified fifth and then defeated Dryden (1,402-1,302) and Niles Brandywine (1,260-1,123) in bracket play. The Hatchets, who rolled Baker games of 202 and 185 in the Final, combined for a balanced scoresheet led by Nick Kociba (185), David Errer (184), Jeryl Reed (181), Ethan Sobczak (176) and Jason Osantowski (160).
Click for full girls results and boys results.
Franklin Boys Claim 1st Bowling Title, Dakota's Girls Return to Top of D1
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
March 4, 2022
ALLEN PARK – Livonia Franklin’s boys bowling team made history Friday at the MHSAA Division 1 Finals at Thunderbowl Lanes.
In just its fourth year of existence, the Patriots’ program claimed its first title, pulling away from Utica Eisenhower 1,451-1,214 behind junior Ian Wright’s 267 and senior Ian Cain’s 251.
Franklin led Eisenhower 390-361 after the two Baker games.
“They’ve been bowling with each other since they were little guys,’’ Franklin coach Dan Hejka said. “We’ve worked very hard over the last four years. We almost got here two years ago, then we had a setback at Regionals last year. This is amazing for the seniors.’’
Said Wright: “We grinded through everything. Our second match we struggled. We had to put up some numbers, even if it meant staying clean and making our spares.’’
Macomb Dakota senior Jillian Lipinski shot 185 in the championship game and got a big boost from sophomore Haylie Patterson to hold off Davison’s girls team 1,222-1,120 and claim a first Finals title since 2015.
“This is a fantastic experience for me; we really had to fight for it,’’ said Lipinski. “It’s amazing it happened my senior year. Through tough times this year we really rocked it.’’
Patterson – whose father Chris and grandfather Curt are 200-average bowlers in Macomb County – rolled a match-high 223 in the title decider.
Davison’s downfall was 10 straight open frames in the fifth and sixth, ending any chance at a championship. Dakota had only a slim 362-351 lead after the Baker games.
Franklin’s boys advanced to the championship match by eliminating Davison, 1,383-1,278 while Eisenhower beat Midland with a huge number, 1,616-1342.
Davison’s girls advanced to the final by out-rolling Farmington, 1,364-1,049 while Dakota edged Macomb L’Anse Creuse North, 1,255-1,146.
Midland was the top qualifier in the boys division with a score of 3,748, followed by Franklin at 3,695 and Davison third at 3,563. Macomb Area Conference schools Utica Eisenhower (3,512) and Macomb Dakota (3,504) were fifth and sixth.
Franklin was the first boys team to advance to the semifinals with a 1,460-1,208 victory over seventh-seed Rockford. Davison eliminated Dakota, 1,312-1,284 to advance on the other side of the boys bracket..
Midland, the top boys’ seed, advanced to the semifinal with a 1,435-1,168 win over Jenison; while Utica Eisenhower topped Holt, 1,318-1,292 to face Midland in the semifinal.
On the girls, side Holt qualified first at 3,504 followed by Dakota at 3,382 and Zeeland third (3,218). MAC schools Macomb L’Anse Creuse North (2,988) and Sterling Heights Stevenson (2,949) qualified sixth and seventh, respectively.
Sixth-seeded L’Anse Creuse North knocked off third-seed Zeeland 1,385-1,324 to advance to the semifinals against MAC rival Dakota, which had eliminated Stevenson 1,345-1,087.
Dakota’s girls were 2-0 head-to-head against LCN during the regular season and made it 3-for-3 with their semifinal victory. Davison advanced to the semis with a 1,200-1,148 decision over Grandville, and Farmington edged top-seeded Holt 1,177-1,173 to advance and face the Cardinals.
PHOTOS The Livonia Franklin boys (top) and Macomb Dakota girls (middle) bowling teams celebrate their Division 1 championships Friday. (Click for more from Champions Photography.)