Salem Boys, Davison Girls Rule Division 1
March 1, 2013
By Greg Chrapek
Special to Second Half
MUSKEGON – Being the best bowling team in the city of Plymouth is saying something.
With two boys bowling teams from Plymouth reaching the elite eight of the MHSAA Division 1 Bowling Final, the city stamped itself as one of the best for bowling in the state. For the Plymouth Salem boys, adding the Division 1 title meant that not only were they the best in Plymouth this year, but the best Division 1 team in all of Michigan.
Salem claimed the Division 1 team title at Northway Lanes by defeating Saginaw Heritage 1,388-1,258 in the championship match. While Salem has reached the MHSAA Finals three of the last five seasons, this year it reached the pinnacle.
“This feels awesome,” Salem coach Kathie Hahn said. “I can’t explain it. I’m so proud of the boys. There are three schools on our ground, and two of them qualified for state, Canton High School and us. To win state was awesome to say the least.”
While Salem won by more than 100 pins in the final match against Heritage, the road was a difficult one. Salem won a dramatic quarterfinal by defeating Roseville 1,356-1,350 in a match that came down to the final frame.
Salem senior Kevin Williams picked up the deciding spare in the 10th frame to give Salem the win and send it on to the semifinals.
“This was very special,” Williams said. “I made it to state as a freshman, but things did not go so well. This year we had a great team and it was a blast. The key for us was keeping our heads up and not getting down on ourselves, and picking up spares.”
After surviving the quarterfinal match, the Wildcats then met Jackson High in the semifinals. Salem started strong and continued to bowl strong all the way through as it defeated the Vikings 1,386-1,172.
Heritage earned its way into the final match by defeating hometown Muskegon Mona Shores 1,292-1,209 in the other semifinal. Salem came out strong against Heritage and built on the lead as the match played out.
“We struggled to pick up spares all day, but in the last few matches we really started to pick them up,” said aptly named Salem senior Jimmy Bowling. “Every one of our bowlers but one shot over 200 in the final game against Heritage. We are a close team, and we are all good friends away from bowling. We are all like a family on this team.”
Steven Cadwell led Salem with a 213 game in the finale while Williams rolled a 207 and Tyler Snyder a 204.
No matter which team won it was going to be a first as neither Salem nor Heritage had won an MHSAA bowling championship before.
“It was kind of an unbelievable day,” Heritage coach Todd Hare said. “We started out bowling really well today. We had good rotations and we came out of qualifying as the number one seed. We just fell a little short in the last match.”
Derrick Norman led Heritage with a 193 in the finale while Tyler Sutt rolled a 192.
While Division 1 had a new boys champion, it saw a repeat champion on the girls side as the Davison bowling powerhouse produced a second consecutive title.
Despite losing five seniors from last year’s squad, the Cardinals re-tooled in hopes of making it back to the Finals.
“At the beginning of the season, not many people expected us to defend our state championship,” Davison coach Albert Torok said. “We lost five seniors from that team, but we had a lot of talent stepping up. We prepared ourselves all year for this. We entered tournament after tournament and progressed day after day, and all that hard work paid off.”
Davison defeated Walled Lake Central 1,347- 1,189 in the title match.
“This is 10 times better then last year,” said Heather Baur, one of three seniors on this year’s team who also were part of last year’s title win. “It’s exciting because the seniors did something that no one else had done. The biggest thing that helped us was just filling frames. Our coach tells us if you fill frames, you win games.”
Davison reached the final match by defeating Sterling Heights Stevenson 1,306- 1,224 in the semifinal and Westland John Glenn 1,256-1,178 in the quarterfinal.
“This feels awesome,” Davison senior Jennifer Phillips said. “It feels so great to win it again. I couldn’t be any more proud of my teammates. Last year after we won it, we knew we wanted to come back and try and win it again.”
Walled Lake Central defeated Macomb Dakota 1,215-1,139 in their semifinal, and Muskegon Mona Shores 1,187-1,144 in the quarter.
Brianna Palarchio rolled a 194 to lead Walled Lake Central in the Final. Sydney Brown rolled a 234 for Davison, and Brooklyn Greene added a 202.
Click for full girls results and full boys results.
Vandercook Lake Rolls to D4 Sweep
March 3, 2017
By Dick Hoekstra
Special for Second Half
LANSING – One was for the first time and the other for a sixth.
But the Vandercook Lake boys and girls bowling teams swept the Division 4 team championships Friday at Royal Scot Lanes.
The Jayhawks boys earned the school’s first MHSAA Finals title by keeping Sandusky from repeating as champion, 1501-1367.
The Vandercook Lake girls team captured its sixth title by keeping St. Louis from claiming its second crown in three years, 1233-1167.
The Jayhawks girls also earned MHSAA titles in 2011, 2013 and 2014 in Division 4 as well as 2009 in Division 3 and 2005 in Class C-D.
“We got a couple breaks where they didn’t in the Baker games,” said Vandercook Lake girls bowling coach Todd Reichard, whose team pulled ahead by 69 pins with 177-159 and 188-137 Baker game wins. “Then we just stayed steady with them. We tried to fill frames. It was two good teams. We just got lucky in the Bakers.”
Senior captain Ariel Robinson rolled a 211 and sophomore Mackenzie Johnson a 202 in the Final for the Jayhawks, who were seeded No. 1 after qualifying and defeated No. 8 Dryden and then No. 5 Rogers City 1239-1166 to reach the championship match.
“These young ladies just refuse to lose,” Reichard said. “I lost four seniors last year. I knew I had a lot of work with a new group this year. This is number six for me, and I tried to do it with depth, because I didn’t have a superstar. Mackenzie (sophomore and individual Regional champion Mackenzie Johnson) might be my best bowler, but everybody chipped in today. I’m still amazed how we got here.”
St. Louis emerged as the No. 2 seed after morning qualifying before defeating No. 7 seed Traverse City Christian and then No. 3 seed Schoolcraft.
The Sharks actually edged Vandercook Lake 871-868 in pins over the Peterson games as senior Emily Thelen threw a 231.
“We just had a lot of bad breaks with some nasty splits in the Baker games, and that’s what came back and got us,” St. Louis girls bowling coach Brittney Mizer said. “The girls didn’t bowl bad. They should be super proud of how they did. I know I am.”
The No. 2-seeded Sandusky boys after morning qualifying were trying to become the first repeat champion in Division 4, and seemed poised after edging No. 3 seed St. Charles 1356-1343 in a Semifinal that was a rematch of last year’s championship match.
But Vandercook Lake topped No. 4 Rogers City 1324-1127 in the other Semifinal, and then became the eighth new champion in the eight years a Division 4 tournament has been held. (There were only three divisions from 2006-2009 and just two in 2004 and 2005.)
“We bowled really well in the St. Charles match, and it felt like a state final,” Sandusky boys bowling coach Del Shea said. “It was pretty exciting. I’ve been coaching 12 years, and I don’t remember anybody defending. That’s what we were trying to do. We almost got there.”
The Redskins fired a 254 to Vandercook Lake’s 192 in the first Baker game, but the Jayhawks answered with a 290 to Sandusky’s 160 in the second Baker game to take a 68-pin lead.
“We came back, and we were only 20 pins down in the middle of that (Peterson) game,” Shea said. “We almost got it back, but we ran out of steam. Everybody bowled really well, especially our seniors Brandon Hughes, Jared Jagotka, Cody Johnston.”
Vandercook Lake boys bowling coach Libie Ambs said the Jayhawks also had to come from behind in their Semifinal with Rogers City.
“But the match with Sandusky was the toughest,” she said. “Korey Reichard bowled well all day. He shot 257 the last game. All of them bowled well. Everybody at least had one game over deuce (200).”
Ambs’ first year coaching the Jayhawks boys was 2009, when they finished as runners-up in Division 3.
“Last year, we got knocked out in the Semifinals,” she said. “This year they kind of had a mission. Korey kept them pumped after every shot, and kept them going.”
Click for full girls results and boys results.
PHOTO: The Vandercook Lake girls and boys teams stand together after sweeping the Division 4 championships at Lansing’s Royal Scot.