FAYETTEVILLE — Thanks to its “best” performance all season, the Richmond Senior High School boys’ bowling team squeezed into the state tournament.
Missing out on sending anyone to states during the individual regionals last week in Lumberton, the six-man Raider team rolled its way to a third-place finish in the Sandhills Athletic Conference tournament Thursday.
Finishing ahead of the Richmond in the standings of the single-elimination tournament were Lumberton (first) and Pinecrest (second) high schools. The members representing Richmond were seniors Tyler Bass, Cameron Carraway, D’Nautica Everett, Evan Hudson and sophomores Mitchell Massey and Jonathan Rich.
Entering the tournament as the No. 5 seed, the Raiders competed in three matches (needing to win three of four games), going 2-1 overall. Total pin counts weren’t a factor in determining the top teams, with the Raiders sweeping Jack Britt High School 3-0 in the third-place match.
“Our conference sent the (top) three teams to the state tournament,” head coach Ralph Butler said. “The boys bowled the best they’ve bowled all year. We finally found consistency. In the third-pace matchup, they bowled their highest three-game total of the season.
“I told the guys that we really had a shot at this,” Butler continued. “I knew if we could get by the first round, we could do what we could against Lumberton. We’re pretty competitive against everyone else, and I reminded them to be focused and dialed in. We play to the level of our competition, and we played above average against Lumberton.”
In their opening match against No. 4 Hoke County High School, the Raiders won 3-1. They dropped the first game 144-162, but battled back to take games two through four with scores of 142-137, 148-140 and 176-109. Richmond outdueled the Bucks by a final pin count of 638-548.
Up next for Richmond was No. 1 seed Lumberton, which sent four bowlers to the individual state tournament last week. Their only loss on the afternoon, the Raiders fell 0-3. The Pirates bowled a 596 to the Raiders’ 485, which sent Lumberton to the championship match and Richmond to battle for third place.
With a chance to punch their ticket to states on the line, the Raiders handled No. 6 Jack Britt with ease. Rolling a 521, the Raiders beat the Buccaneers by 78 pins, as Jack Britt finished with a score of 443. Game scores were 190-158, 174-144 and 157-141 in favor of the green and gold.
In the girls’ bracket, the Lady Raiders lost their opening round match to Scotland High School, seeing their shot at a team states appearance fall short.
The Raider bowling team, as well as lone singles qualifier Savannah Lampley, will head to Lumberton Friday for the individual and team state tournament. Action is expected to get underway around 11 a.m. at the Lumberton Bowling Center.
