ABERDEEN — Both of Richmond Senior High School’s bowling teams faced just one opponent during Wednesday’s Sandhills Athletic Conference match.
The Raiders and Lady Raiders each earned a victory over Lee County High School to improve in the standings, although Lee County didn’t have a girls’ team (forfeit).
Richmond also bowled an “open match,” which allowed both teams to earn five more points. Those scores will be used in the season’s total pin count tally.
Richmond’s boys’ team was without its top bowler in senior Cameron Way, but several others stepped up to beat the Yellow Jackets 682-234. The Raiders averaged 170.5 pins per game, their second-highest average in a match this season.
Seniors Alston Johnson and Dexter Mabe were pivotal for the Raiders against Lee County and in the open match, which they scored 646 pins. In the first match, Johnson and Mabe both bowled 4 strikes and 3 spares to close seven of their eight respective frames in the four games.
In the open game, Johnson rolled a season-high 6 strikes, while Mabe matched his season-high with 4 more strikes.
Junior William White, who bowled two of the four games in the anchor position against the Yellow Jackets, closed six of his eight frames. He rolled 3 strikes and 3 spares in the first match, followed by 3 strikes and a season-high 5 spares in the open match.
Senior Colin Wheeler contributed two strikes and two spares against Lee County, before adding 4 strikes in the second contest.
“The boys continued their strong play,” head coach Ralph Butler said. “The 10 points in back-to-back weeks moves the boys up to 26-4 on the year, just slightly behind Pinecrest whose only two losses have been against Richmond.
“We were down Cameron, but the others stepped up with strong performances,” he continued. “Alston had his best performance as a bowler, closing out 88% with 10 strikes, William closed out 77% with 6 strikes and Dexter closed out 75% of his frames with 8 strikes.”
Butler added that freshman Sam Thompson “has a chance to be really good,” who closed out 75% of his frames. Senior Cody Eason chipped in two strikes and two spares across the eight games.
ROSports File Photo: Freshman Ava Thompson. (Kyle Pillar/The Richmond Observer)
In the Lady Raiders’ forfeit win over Lee County, the team rolled a 438 (109.5 pins per game average), just two pins shy of tying their season high score. The open match saw a score of 419 pins (104.8 pins per average).
Junior Cadence Thompson had her best solo outing of the season, bowling a season-high 4 strikes and 3 spares against the Lady Yellow Jackets.
Freshman Ava Thompson notched 3 spares, a season-high, and added a strike, while junior Molly Erwin helped the team with one strike and one spare.
Two strikes from Ava Thompson and one apiece from Cadence Thompson and junior Rylie Bohman accounted for the team’s 4 strikes in the open match. Six bowlers registered at least one spare, with Erwin leading the way with two.
“Since Lee County did not have a girls’ team, we took that opportunity to change up our line up and see what impact that would have on our score,” assistant coach Lily Sager said. “Throughout the competition, most of the girls struggled to close frames, but Cadence and Ava kept hitting in the pocket and closing frames.
“Moving forward, we are continuing to work on picking up spares and consistency with hitting our mark,” she added. “We also are working on adjusting our mark and where we stand when it is not working with those lane conditions.”
Richmond’s teams will return to action on Jan. 6 in Laurinburg against Southern Lee and Scotland high schools.
