Trophy Pose Turns Into Trophy Win
March 6, 2013
By Jeff Steers
Brooklyn Exponent editor
(Submitted to Second Half)
Vandercook Lake High School girls bowling coach Todd Reichard likes each of his athletes to complete her toss with a hand up in the air like a bowling trophy.
Those who don’t complete their throws with a trophy pose are assigned to a two-minute penalty in the position.
Junior Malloree Ambs is the worst offender of this rule.
But last weekend she walked out of the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 4 Bowling Finals at Sunnybrook Lanes in Sterling Heights with a trophy, two medals and an individual championship.
Reichard still held up two fingers during the Finals each time Ambs failed to assume the bowling trophy position.
Ambs finished first in the individual tournament with a win over Paige Huebel of Oscoda High School. She finished with a total of 375 pins over two games to defeat Huebel by 14 pins.
Ambs is the first Vandercook Lake bowler to win a title since Nicole Crabtree won in 2009.
She rebounded from a rocky qualifying round where she made the top 16 field by only 14 pins.
“I had a rough time of it during the qualifying round,” Ambs said. “I knew I had to come back and battle.”
Ambs, Jessica Bunch and Becky Cecil all advanced to the round of 16. Cecil – who qualified 16th – knocked off the number one seed in round one and Bunch earned an easy win in her first round.
Huebel defeated Cecil in round two (423-377 for two games], Bunch tied with Kaitlin Gunsell of Unionville-Sebewaing but lost in a roll-off, and Ambs defeated Melissa Sleda of Sandusky (409-343).
One more pin by Bunch in regulation would have meant that she would have faced Ambs in the semifinal.
“I was somewhat relieved because I hate bowling against my teammates,” Ambs said.
Ambs defeated Gunsell 399 to 331 in the semifinals to advance to the finals.
She trailed by 11 pins after game one of the finals as a split in the sixth frame slowed her pace. Huebel experienced a split in game two in the fifth frame to open the door for Ambs.
Ambs appeared to have the match wrapped up after that, but an open in the 10th frame opened the door for Huebel. When the Oscoda bowler did not strike in the 10th frame, the victory went to Ambs.
She is the third VCL bowler to win an individual title, joining Crabtree in 2009 and Dee Dee Briggs in 2005.
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PHOTO: Vandercook Lake junior Malloree Ambs won the Division 4 individual title Saturday at Sunnybrook Lanes. (Photo courtesy of the Brooklyn Exponent.)
Holt's Cadwell Completes 58-Pin Comeback to Claim Singles Title
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
March 2, 2024
ALLEN PARK – Facing a 58-pin deficit heading into Game 2 of Saturday’s Division 1 singles championship match, Holt sophomore Emma Cadwell needed some help if she was going to catch and Flushing’s Hannah Reid.
Reid – the 2023 Division 1 runner-up – had won the first game of the Final 216-158.
But while Reid struggled in the second game, Cadwell rallied – and prevailed with a two-game 362-359 win at Thunderbowl Lanes.
“I just tried to stay focused,’’ said Cadwell. “I really didn’t see this happening my sophomore year. We went with a ball change in the second game, and it paid off. I kind of felt the momentum change early in the second game. I didn’t know what was going to happen. I just tried to execute my shots.’’
Reid, after dispatching Utica freshman Ava Mazza in the Semifinals, 418-387, found herself in the championship match for the second-straight season.
But in nearly a reversal of the first game, Cadwell emerged with a 204-143 advantage in the second to lock up the title.
Rockford freshman Sofia DeLuccia was the top qualifier for match play at 1,338 pins, five more than Reid.
She was eliminated in the first round by 16th seed Haley Streatmans, from Macomb L’Anse Creuse North, 339-338. Streatmans advanced to face Cadwell, who had bested Amber Spicer of Belleville, 316-290.
Caldwell moved on to the Semifinals by defeating Streatmans, 365-359, and then eliminated Zeeland’s Brianna Fortney, 332-326, to reach the Final.
Reid held serve at the two-seed, defeating Holt’s Madison Rue, 356-287, to face Grace Polega from Utica Ford, a 428-366 winner over Lauren Zalenski from L’Anse Creuse North. Reid continued her march to the Final with a 364-362 victory over Polega.
Livonia Franklin’s Brooklyn Hannah was third in qualifying at 1,296 pins, and Traverse City West’s Alyssa Tanner was fourth at 1,264. Macomb Dakota’s Haylie Patterson jumped into the field with games of 223, 241 and 193 to jump to the 14th seed and a showdown with Livonia Franklin’s Brooklyn Hannah.
Fortney, who helped Zeeland to the team title Friday, qualified 12th at 1,172. She had to face teammate and senior classmate Rylee Smith in the opening round. Tied at 359, the two had a roll-off with Fortney advancing 49-18. Fortney moved on to take on Tanner, who had won 398-331 over Sophia Matheson of Utica Eisenhower. Fortney jumped ahead early and prevailed, 474-370 to face Caldwell.
Mazza, the daughter of former Professional Bowlers Association star John Mazza, qualified sixth at 1,261. She then eliminated Samantha Mason of Southfield Arts & Technology 407-361 to take on Patterson, who had raced past Hannah, 401-340. Mazza was good, ending Patterson’s run 410-361.