Home Local Sports Lady Raiders stay atop SAC standings

Lady Raiders stay atop SAC standings

ROSPorts File Photo: Cadence Thompson. (Kyle Pillar, sports editor)

ABERDEEN — The Richmond Senior High School girls’ bowling team’s undefeated streak ended at seven matches on Thursday.

Continuing the second round of Sandhills Athletic Conference action, the Lady Raiders split its two contests with Pinecrest and Hoke County high schools.

Suffering their first loss of the season to the Lady Patriots by the final pin count, the Lady Raiders rebounded with a victory over the Lady Bucks to stay atop the conference standings.

“Pinecrest bowled a great series of 596, which is really strong,” head coach Ralph Butler said. “We rolled a 565 series, but they were just a little better than us tonight. 

“The Hoke County girls’ team is in second place behind us in the conference and they’ve got a good coach, so I knew they would be better,” he added. “I was proud of the way they competed against them and got the win to remain at the top of the conference standings.”

Butler added that seniors Ashlyn Bouldin and Cadence Thompson, along with sophomore Ava Thompson, “had good nights.”

Lady Raiders edged by Pinecrest

Richmond and the Lady Patriots split their four games, but it was the final pin total that saw Pinecrest hand the Lady Raiders their first loss of the season.

Scores were 161-150, 130-150, 146-136 and 128-158, leading to a 594-565 loss for Richmond. The team rolled a season-high 18 spares while averaging 141.3 pins per game.

In the first game, Bouldin, both Thompsons and seniors Molly Erwin and Savannah Jordan combined to close out 9-of-10 frames on all spares. 

Each bowling four spares across the four games were Bouldin, Ava Thomspon and Cadence Thompson. From the anchor spot, Cadence Thompon kept the team competitive with a match-high three strikes.

Erwin, Bouldin and Ava Thompson each bowled one strike to round out the team’s six perfect rolls. Adding three spares was Erwin, while Jordan had two and senior Addison Massey had one.

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Entering the final game, Richmond led 437-436 but was outscored by 30 pines in the final 10 frames.

Consistent frames lead Lady Raiders past Hoke County

Completing the regular-season sweep of Hoke County, Richmond used a strong fourth game to earn a 3.5-1.5 victory. Both teams finished with the same score in the third game, splitting the point.

Using seven strikes and 14 spares, scores were 125-102, 119-148, 130-130 and 159-97, ending in a 533-477 win. The 62-pin differential in the final game was the difference maker.

Averaging 133.3 pins per game, Cadence Thompson mirrored her statistics from the first match to lead the team with three strikes and four spares. She ended the day by closing 14-of-21 frames as the anchor.

Bouldin had two strikes and four spares and Ava Thompson chipped in another strike and a trio of pickups. Senior Rylie Bohman joined the action with a strike and two spares.

A spare from Massey rounded out the scoring. As a team, Richmond closed 7-of-11 frames in the final game.

With just three more matches and an open competition left in the regular season, the Lady Raiders improved to 8-1 on the season. They currently lead the SAC in points with 36.5 points.

Next Thursday in Laurinburg, Richmond will compete against Union Pines and Lee County. Play will begin at 4 p.m.



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Kyle Pillar is a 22-time North Carolina Press Association award-winning sports editor with The Richmond Observer. Follow the sports department on X @ROSports_ for the best in-depth coverage of Richmond County sports.