ABERDEEN — Dialed in Thursday, the Richmond Senior High School boys’ bowling team picked up a pair of wins.
Putting a stop to a two-match streak skid, the Raiders defeated Pinecrest and Hoke County high schools in the fifth Sandhills Athletic Conference meet of the season.
For the first time in three tries this season, the Raiders handed the Patriots a loss 3-2. They also evened the season series with a 4-1 win over the Bucks.
“It was great to get back in the win column and get that victory over Pinecrest that has been fleeting the last two times we played them,” head coach Chris Larsen said. “Landon (Summerlin) proved to be a big helper today with a really strong overall performance.
“The turning point for us against Pinecrest was bowling five straight strikes from Azariah (Daniel), Sam (Thompson) and James (Eason) in the eighth through 10th frames,” he added. “That set the tone and we were able to carry that energy all afternoon.”
Junior Landon Summerlin had his best match of the season, finishing the day with a .923 closing percentage. He shut 13-of-14 frames bowled and had a season-high six strikes against the Patriots.
As a team, Richmond closed 70.1% of its 87 total frames between the two victories.
Summerlin perfect in win over Pinecrest
Averaging 175.8 pins per game, the Raiders secured their first win over the Patriots this season. Game scores were 200-144, 177-189, 173-148 and 153-185. Point differentials in the first and third games provided the extra point with a pin total of 703-666.
Summerlin went a perfect 8-for-8 in his frames with a season-best six strikes and two spares to lead the team. Senior James Eason, who bowled a turkey in the 10th frame of game one, ended the match 9-for-10 (90%) with seven strikes and two spares.
Splitting the anchor position with Eason, junior Sam Thompson contributed five strikes and a spare across the four games (.670 closing percentage).
Helping Richmond to victory were junior Landon Taylor and sophomore Azariah Daniel. Both bowled a strike, as Taylor had three spares and Daniel picked up two helpers.
Season-high spares coast Raiders past Hoke County
Upping their game against the Bucks, the Raiders eased their way to victory behind game scores of 170-155, 179-176, 143-183 and 222-152.
Winning by a final count of 711-666, the Raiders bowled a season-high 17 strikes as a team. Richmond averaged 177.8 pins per game.
Six bowlers contributed to the win, as Summerlin and Taylor led the way with an .833 closing percentage. Both went 5-for-6 with Summerlin rolling four strikes and a spare. Taylor added two strikes and three spares.
Eason and Thompson, who both bowled 10 frames in the anchor spot, each went 7-for-10 (70%). Thompson had four strikes and three spares to go with Eason’s three strikes and four spares.
Daniel closed out four of his six frames (67%) with four spares. Senior Jabari Douglas joined the scoring with a strike and two spares in six frames (50%).
Through 10 matches this season, the Raiders are currently in fourth place in the SAC standings with 28 points.
Richmond (6-4) will face first-place Southern Lee and fifth-place Union Pines high schools next Thursday in Laurinburg at 4 p.m.
