ABERDEEN — Ralph Butler, Richmond Senior High School’s head bowling coach, said he was certain that he had a couple of Lady Raider bowlers who would make a run at qualifying for this winter’s state tournament.
The eight Sandhills Athletic Conference female bowling teams meet at the Sandhills Bowling Center on Wednesday for the girls’ singles championship. Butler was correct, as several Richmond bowlers came close to punching their ticket.
Despite a couple of strong performances, Richmond would come up short in sending anyone to the state tournament for the second straight year. Last season, former bowler Savannah Lampley took fifth place in the event with a score of 489 pins.
Following the same format, where bowlers rolled three full games on their own (unlike the Baker format of the regular season), the combined pin total of those games were used to determine the top eight overall bowlers, who in turn advanced to states.
Allowed to have eight bowlers contend for a spot in the top eight, the Lady Raiders sent seniors Hannah Bennett, Amber Henson, Kayla Howell, Hailey Miller and Carley Lambeth, juniors Autumn Hoffman and Josie Standridge and freshman Cadence Thompson to compete on Wednesday.
Miller, who is wrapping up her first season on the team, would bowl well above her average and come within 28 pins of moving to the next round. Miller led Richmond with a total pin count of 453 pins in her three games.
Entering the day averaging 134 pins per game, she bowled games of 163, 161 and 129 to finish with an average of 151 pins. Following her first two games, Miller had a score of 324 pins, which had her in the top eight.
“I was able to pick up a lot of spares on top of bowling a lot of strikes, so that helped me get in a rhythm today,” Miller explained. “Having the constant repetition helped me stay consistent with how I was releasing the ball.
“It’s pretty cool to have the opportunity to come so close to qualifying for states, especially since this is my first year bowling,” she added.
Bennett, also new to the sport, would finish second on the team with a combined score of 418 pins. She started with a 118, bowled a team-high 164 in her second game, before ending the day with a 136. She missed the cut by just 63 pins.
Coming in first place following the four-player “bowl off” was Pinecrest’s Angelina Gittleson. Hoffman would round out the top three bowlers for Richmond, also finishing above the 400-pin mark with a score of 403. She bowled games of 127, 141 and 135.
Back row: Hannah Bennett, Autumn Hoffman, Cadence Thompson, Ralph Butler, Hailey Miller and Josie Standridge. Front row: Carley Lambeth, Kayla Howell and Amber Henson.
“Hailey and Hannah both bowled really well and both were above their season average,” Butler said. “The singles format can surprise them because they’re bowling three full games and can get hot and find a rhythm, which both of them did today.
“Having three girls over 400 pins is really impressive,” he added. “Today we saw a lot of the girls bowl more consistently.”
Lambeth finished just shy of reaching the 400 pins tally, recording a score of 394 pins behind games of 130,130 and 134. Thompson was fifth with a 389, and her final game score of 162 pins was her personal best in competition.
Standridge (366), Henson (351) and Howell (318) rounded out the eight performances by Richmond’s bowlers.
“Cadence had the best game of her life today, and she’s just a freshman,” Butler noted. “That gives her plenty of time to keep getting better and more consistent for future seasons. I’m expecting a lot of good things from a lot of the girls.
“Hailey is a competitor, and at the end of the day, she’s got that edge in her to be the best she can be,” he closed. “She’s so focused and doesn’t let outside factors affect her game. It’s unfortunate she came up short, but she bowled really well and should be proud.”
The Lady Raiders will take two weeks off before competing in the SAC tournament championship, which will be held on Jan. 30. Up next for Richmond, the boys’ individual championships will be held in Lumberton next Thursday, starting at 4 p.m.
Note: A complete list of the finalized rankings of the female bowlers was not available at the time of publication. ROSports will add them in when they become available.
