ABERDEEN — Facing the two teams tied for first place in the conference, the Richmond Senior High School boys’ bowling team shook up the standings on Thursday.
Entering the third Sandhills Athletic Conference dual match of the season alone in second place, the Raiders defeated Scotland and Southern Lee high schools.
Finishing the first round of conference play against the reigning state champion Scots, the Raiders won 3-2. Richmond, which lost to the Cavaliers in the first match of the season, redeemed itself with a 4-1 win.
“We picked up some momentum last week and it really carried over today against two teams that were in first place,” head coach Chris Larsen said. “Winning both matches today was the result of having the best performances of the season out of a few of the guys.
“The guys are getting more comfortable and are able to make better adjustments now,” he continued. “Those changes lead to better closing percentages, which gave us more consistent leads today. This was a great way to head into the break.”
The Raiders closed 34-of-45 frames against the Scots (75.6%), which was a single-match season-high this season.
Richmond’s combined closing percentage of 73.9% (65-for-88) between both matches was also a season best.
Final pin total key for Raiders against Scotland
In last year’s state championship match the Raiders fell to the Scots, but in their first meeting since, the pins went in Richmond’s favor.
The two teams split the four games by scores of 190-160, 162-217, 227-176 and 167-175, but the extra point went to Richmond thanks to a final tally of 746-728.
The 18-pin victory featured several season-high numbers for the team — 20 strikes (tied), 247 (single-game high score), 746 (pin total) and 186.5 (average game score).
Larsen said the “turning point” of the match was late in the first game when juniors Landon Summerlin and Sam Thompson and senior anchor James Eason rattled off five straight strikes to take an early lead.
Eason was a perfect 11-for-11 in the match with a season-high nine strikes and two spares. Thompson, who split with Eason at anchor, closed 80% of his frames with a season-high six strikes and a pair of helpers.
Adding to the win was Summerlin, who had four perfect rolls and two spares (75%). Junior Landon Taylor picked up a team-high five spares in the win, five of 14 helpers by Richmond (single-match season-high).
Sophomore Azariah Daniel, who rolled six frames and split with senior Jabari Douglas, had a strike and three spares in the win.
Raiders take close-scoring matchup over Cavs
The Raiders’ 4-1 win over the Cavaliers was larger on the point spread, but it was also a close pin-for-pin matchup through the final frame. Final scores were 174-130, 170-233, 219-183 and 165-157 to give Richmond a 728-703 victory.
Richmond matched its season-high 20 strikes and added 11 spares for a game average of 182 pins.
As a team, Richmond closed 72.1% of its frames, led by Summerlin and Taylor’s 83%. Both knocked down a season-high best in strikes, five and four, respectively, and Summerlin had two spares to Taylor’s one.
Eason remained on fire by sealing up 7-of-9 frames (77%) with six strikes and a spare. He finished the day 18-for-20 (90%), which was the best combined percentage of any Raider this season.
Thompson bowled five more strikes and had a spare, Douglas closed out four spares for his single-high this winter and Daniel chipped in a pair of spares.
Now with 19 points in the SAC standings, the Raiders (4-2) will have off until Jan. 4. They will face Pinecrest and Scotland in Laurinburg, starting at 4 p.m.
