LAURINBURG — The Richmond Senior High School boys’ and girls’ bowling teams concluded their regular-season schedule on Monday.
Bowling in a make-up match, the Raiders and Lady Raiders faced rival Scotland High School and also bowled an open match.
The Lady Raiders upset first-place Scotland for the second time this season, while despite falling to the Scots, the Raiders secured second place in the Sandhills Athletic Conference standings.
Richmond girls edge Scotland by one pin
In thrilling fashion, the Lady Raiders defeated Scotland 3-2 and used a final pin count of 445-444 to earn the win.
Richmond and Scotland split the four games by scores of 98-101, 82-116, 136-125 and 129-102. The Lady Raiders used four strikes and 11 spares to secure the win.
Freshman Ava Thompson bowled two strikes and added three spares, junior Ashlyn Bouldin rolled one strike and one spare and fellow junior Addison Massey added the other strike.
Juniors Cadence Thompson and Molly Erwin matched Ava Thompson’s three spares for a team-high, and junior Rylie Bohman added one spare.
“The girls again rose to the occasion against first-place Scotland and beat them 3-2 in a thriller,” head coach Ralph Butler said. “Scotland’s only two losses this year are against us, so I’m extremely proud of the girls for that.
“This should move them up for Tuesday’s conference tournament, but we won’t know for sure until we get there.”
In the open match, which secured the Lady Raiders five more points in the SAC standings, they bowled scores of 156, 116, 91 and 108 for a pin total of 471.
As a team, the Lady Raiders bowled a season-high 12 spares and rolled five more strikes.
The Lady Raiders will compete in the SAC individual and team tournament on Tuesday.
Raiders secure second place heading into conference tournament
Suffering just their fourth loss of the season, the Raiders dropped their match to Scotland 4-1. Scores were 145-149, 126-150, 150-165 and 179-158 for a match total of 600-622.
“The boys lost to Scotland, but did enough to stay in second place in the conference standings,” Butler explained. “They will be the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament.
“They again struggled to pick up spares even though they threw some good balls,” he added. “They just don’t bowl well in Laurinburg. I feel like they’re more comfortable in Aberdeen and should improve on Thursday.”
The Raiders bowled 13 strikes in the loss, including six from junior William White and three by senior Cameron Way. Senior Alston Johnson added two perfect frames and seniors Dexter Mabe and Colin Wheeler, along with freshman Sam Thompson, each had one.
Johnson had a team-high three spares, while Mabe, Wheeler and White each knocked down two spares.
Richmond rounded out its regular season with a score of 585 pins in its open match, locking up five more points. Game scores were 169, 121, 145 and 150.
The Raiders added 14 more strikes and eight spares in the match. Every bowler had at least one strike and Johnson led the team with four strikes.
The Raiders will compete in the SAC individual and team tournament on Thursday.
