ABERDEEN — While neither of Richmond Senior High School’s bowling teams brought home any state championship hardware, the Raiders and Lady Raiders did finish near the top of the final standings Tuesday.
Richmond’s boys’ and girls’ bowling teams both competed in the state championship event at the Sandhills Bowling Center, while the Lady Raiders also had two singles qualifiers.
Following up their state runner-up finish last year, the Lady Raiders earned another top finish with a third-place result. The Raiders, who returned to the postseason after missing last year, placed fourth overall.
Opening the day in a field of 12 teams, the Raiders and Lady Raiders qualified for the bowl-off based on their combined scores in the Baker format through four qualifying games.
Lady Raiders place third at states
To begin the day, the Lady Raiders rolled game scores of 147, 121, 138 and 132 for a final qualifying pin count of 538.
That placed the team third behind Gray’s Creek High School (608) and Jack Britt High School (541). The fourth team to make the final four bowl-off was Lumberton High School (523).
Going into the single-elimination semifinals, No. 3 Richmond needed to win two of its games against No. 2 Jack Britt. Unfortunately, the Lady Raiders were swept 2-0 behind scores of 115-129 and 134-135.
Four Lady Raiders closed out half of their four respective frames between the two games. Thompson and junior Jentry Denson each had a strike and a spare, while senior Hanna Smith and freshman Kaylon Wynn both rolled two spares.
Barnes added a spare in the second game in her two frames, with junior Skyler Collins helping knock down pins in the first game.
Top-seeded Gray’s Creek went on to defeat Jack Britt in the championship match.
In singles action, Thompson and Barnes each rolled three complete games, but neither qualified for the final four.
Thompson finished with scores of 143, 150 and 138 for a total pin count of 431. She closed 17-of-30 frames (56.7) with five strikes and 12 spares.
Barnes rolled games of 147, 147 and 132 to end with a final pin count of 426. She had seven strikes and eight spares, finishing the day with a 15-for-30 effort (50%).
“I’m really proud of the whole team,” head coach Ashleigh Larsen said. “We had some unfinished business from last year that we wanted to close out, but it’s still an accomplishment to finish in the top three in the state.
“This team has shown so much growth this season, especially our newcomers. The girls found ways to win and put themselves in good positions. Unfortunately, we were just a few pins short here and there. Ava and Sydney both represented the Raider diamond well today.”
Raiders return with fourth-place finish
From left: Landon Taylor, Landon Summerlin, Ahjujuan Ewing, Owen Hancock, Azariah Daniel and Jabari Douglas at Tuesday's state championship.
Deon Cranford/The Richmond Observer
The pin count was close after the four qualifying games to determine the boys’ final four teams, but the Raiders earned their way in.
Scores of 185, 161, 172 and 193 resulted in a final pin count of 711, two pins more than Lumberton High School (709), which solidified the Raiders’ trip to the team bowl-off.
Also making the final four were No. 1 Scotland High School (820), No. 2 Southern Lee (781) and No. 3 Cape Fear High School (771).
Facing No. 1 Scotland in the semifinals and needing to win two of their three games, the Raiders let an early slip and fell 2-1 to the Fighting Scots. Scores were 186-159 and 171-198 (the third game score was not reported).
Junior Owen Hancock closed all six of his frames with two strikes and four spares, while senior Landon Taylor went 5-for-6 with three strikes and two helpers.
Senior Landon Summerlin closed out 70% of his 10 frames from the anchor spot with six strikes and a spare. Seniors Jabari Douglas and Ahjujuan Ewing were both 3-for-6 with three strikes and one strike and two spares, respectively.
The championship match featured Scotland and Southern Lee and the Cavaliers from Sanford won the title.
“Our matches today were a grind, much like our whole season,” head coach Chris Larsen said. “We knew we’d be facing some tough teams and we battled to get into the final four, which is really an accomplishment for us in our first trip back to the playoffs.
“I’m proud of the guys. They showed a lot of poise and picked up pins when we needed to in order to stay alive. It’s tough seeing a familiar opponent like Scotland so many times in a season and today just wasn’t our day. But this was a great way to end for our seniors.”
