ABERDEEN — Making a late-season surge, the Lady Raider bowling team picked up two wins during Thursday’s Sandhills Athletic Conference dual-meet.
Competing against Union Pines High School in both matches, Richmond avenged an earlier-season loss and moved ahead in the season series 2-1. The team also won its fourth straight match.
Collecting nine total points in the conference standings, the Lady Raiders rolled their way to a 4-1 win and a 5-0 victory.
The SAC also recognized the conference’s senior bowlers prior to competition. Richmond’s female seniors were Neely Turner, Katie Way and Dakotah Tschudi (not present).
“This was our best performance of the season and it was great to do that as a way to honor our seniors,” head coach Ashleigh Larsen said. “We set several season-highs across the board and I’m so proud of the girls for continuing to show improvement each week.
“Neely, Katie and Dakotah were all first-year bowlers for us and it’s been a joy to get to see them have fun and get better,” she added. “We had a small roster this year and each of them contributed to our success.”
The Lady Raiders set five season-highs in their second match, and added its best overall closing percentage of the winter. They finished 41-for-86 (47.7%) on the day.
Sophomore Jentry Denson (50%) and juniors Hanna Smith (37.5%) and Ava Thompson (63.6%) each set personal best closing percentages.
Consistency helps Lady Raiders to first win
Starting with a 4-1 win, Richmond earned game scores of 100-83, 137-103, 152-115 and 99-143 for a final tally of 488-434 and the extra point.
Combining for seven strikes and 10 spares, the Lady Raiders closed 17-of-41 frames (41.5%) and knocked down 122 pins per game.
Denson, Thompson and Way each had two strikes, with Thompson adding a trio of spares from the anchor spot (5-for-9). Way was 50% in her eight frames with two helpers and Denson closed out one spare.
Smith shut the door on three of her frames, all spares. Turner helped the team by adding one strike and one spare.
Season-best numbers on display in shutout victory
In their second win, the Lady Raiders racked up the scores. They were 163-90, 151-101, 135-92 and 104-86 for a final of 553-369.
New season-highs included spares (14), closing percentage (53.3%), pin total (553) and game average (138.3 pins). The team also tied its single-game season-high score of 163 pins.
Thompson led the way at anchor, closing 9-of-13 frames (69.2%), which included three consecutive strikes in the 10th frame of the first game. She finished with five strikes and four spares.
Denson continued her strong performance with five more closed frames in eight attempts (62.5%). She rolled a strike and four spares.
Turner brought her percentage up to 50% with a pair of strikes and a pair of spares in the second match. Both Smith (three spares) and Way (two strikes, one spare) ended 3-for-8.
Set to close out their regular season next Thursday, the Lady Raiders (8-6) will bowl one match against Scotland High School in Laurinburg at 4 p.m.
Below are photos from Thursday’s bowling senior night taken by sports editor Kyle Pillar.
