ABERDEEN — The Richmond Senior High School bowling program showed up and showed out during Friday’s state championship tournament.
Sending its entire girls team, along with one individual qualifier from the boys team, Richmond recorded its second straight state runner-up finish the last two seasons, as well as having a top-10 individual bowler.
The Lady Raiders — represented by seniors Neely Turner and Katie Way, juniors Hanna Smith and Ava Thompson, and sophomore Jentry Denson — knocked on the door of the program’s first state title.
The team took second place in the state, falling in the state championship match to fellow Sandhills Athletic Conference opponent Pinecrest High School. The Raider bowling team finished second last season.
“The girls bowled the best they have all season when it mattered most,” girls head coach Ashleigh Larsen said. “They came out early with a lot of energy to post good scores that got us into the final four.
“It’s been a great season of growth and each girl has contributed along the way. I’m very proud of them for coming in second place and they competed until the very last frame.”
For the Raiders, junior Landon Summerlin made the All-State team with a 10th place finish in the individual tournament, which featured dozens of bowlers. Thompson was an All-State last season.
“Landon represented our team well,” boys head coach Chris Larsen said. “To be one of the top 10 bowlers in the state says a lot about his talent and dedication to getting better.
“It was a really large field of bowlers and he continued to score higher and higher with each game. I’m proud of how he competed and look forward to him coming back next year.”
Lady Raiders finish as state runner-up
All teams rolled four games to determine the top four teams which would compete for the state championship. The Lady Raiders earned the No. 3 seed with scores of 153, 152, 178, 134 for a pin total of 617.
During those four games, Way closed out 7-of-8 frames (87.5%) with two strikes and five spares.
Thompson bowled three strikes and four spares (7-for-11), while Denson (four strikes, one spare) and Turner (one strike, four spares) closed 62.5% of their frames. Smith had two strikes and two spares.
“States was a great experience, it was really fun and we had a great time,” Turner shared. “It was a good team bonding experience to be able to go so far in the tournament and have fun while doing so.
“We all were very excited and loud at states, keeping the energy up and helping one another as much as we could,” she added. “And overall, we just wanted to have fun. Finishing second overall was such an accomplishment for us since we were all pretty new at the sport.”
That sent the team into the final four against No. 2 Lumberton High School. Playing a best-of-three game series, the Lady Raiders won 2-0. Scores were 146-133 and 167-121.
Going 13-for-21 (62%) as a team, the Lady Raiders bowled nine strikes and four spares. Smith led the way by closing out 100% of her four frames, all of which were strikes.
Way was 3-for-4 (75%) with a strike and two spares, Thompson added the same stat line in five frames and Turner bowled two strikes in her four rolls. Denson added to the win with a strike.
In the state championship match against the Lady Patriots, Richmond fell short 2-1. The Lady Raiders’ scores were 117, 140 and 120.
Way had the best outing for the team, closing 15-of-18 frames (83%) across the qualifying games and both matches, while the team closed 55-of-95 of its overall frames (58%).
Smith finished 12-for-18 (67%), while Denson and Turner each had a .440 closing percentage (8-for-18). At anchor, Thompson closed her third season with the team with a 12-of-23 mark (52%).
“The team’s performance on Friday was honestly the best I’ve seen,” Smith said. “Everybody bowled great and it was cool to come in second place in states for a sport not many people follow as closely as others.
“I love this year’s team,” she continued. “Everybody supported each other and stayed positive throughout the season, which really helped us to be successful. We all became super close so it felt more like a family than a team.”
Thompson and Way also competed in the individual state tournament, but neither finished inside the top 10 for All-State status.
Way rolled scores of 186, 141 and 139 for a total of 466, while Thompson bowled 140, 162 and 146 to finish with a 448.
Summerlin takes 10th in individual state tournament
Waiting patiently for the team competitions to conclude, Summerlin came out strong in the singles tournament and got better with each game.
Also bowling three games, Summerlin started with a 191. He followed that by eclipsing the 200-pin count in his second and third games, finishing with a 203 and 212, respectively.
His final pin total of 606 landed him in 10th place overall, securing his first All-State team recognition.
“My experience was great,” Summerlin recalled. “The bowlers were really good, it feels great to be All-State and hopefully next year I can win it all.
“One of the biggest things was making sure I hit my arrows and didn’t rush any of my bowls,” he added. “I hope to get better by taking my time more and getting set and ready for the next set of pins.
“My biggest lesson learned would probably be that one mistake doesn’t mean the frame is over and that I can still get the spare.”
