SOUTHERN PINES — Beginning its season Thursday with two matches, the Richmond Senior High School girls’ bowling team was victorious twice.
Like the Raider bowling team, which also had two wins in its season opener, the Lady Raiders faced a pair of familiar foes in Southern Lee and Union Pines high schools.
Starting the day against Union Pines, the Lady Raiders secured a 4-1 win despite only knocking down one more pin than the Lady Vikings. Staying in a groove, they ended the day with a 5-0 victory over the Lady Cavaliers.
“I’m really proud of the girls,” head coach Ashleigh Larsen said. “We have the benefit again this season of having several girls returning with experience, and that paid off for us twice today when things were close at times. That is going to be something we rely on a lot this season.
“Union Pines and Southern Lee are always scrappy teams to face,” she added. “We had to be on our A game today to get two wins and the girls put together some good scores to do that.”
Over the course of the two matches, the Lady Raiders finished the meet with a combined overall closing percentage of .314, shutting the door on 27-of-86 frames. Leading the team in that category were sophomore returners Sydney Barnes (7-for-16, 44%) and Kaylon Wynn (9-for-21, 43%).
Close match goes in favor of Richmond against Union Pines
To begin the meet, the Lady Raiders took down the Lady Vikings 4-1. Three of those points came thanks to game victories of 129-128, 95-88, 117-108 in games two through four, respectively.
Adding the additional point was the Lady Raiders’ overall pin count, which edged Union Pines 437-436.
Using the spare effectively, Richmond collected 12 helpers as a team and bowled two strikes. Averaging 109.3 pins per game, the Lady Raiders closed 14-of-44 frames (32%).
From the anchor spot in the fifth and 10th frames in the final three games, Wynn rolled two strikes and added three spares. She led the way in the match with a .450 closing percentage (5-for-11) and had a strike and a spare in the final frames of the fourth game.
Barnes and freshman Ava Parks were next in efficiency, both closing 3-of-8 frames (38%). Both bowlers had a trio of spares.
First-year junior bowler Jorja Moore had a spare in her four frames and senior Jentry Denson had two spares in her nine attempts. Knocking down pins in the win was senior Skyler Collins.
Lady Raiders shut out Southern Lee
Richmond ended its first meet of the season with a clean sweep of Southern Lee, shutting out the Lady Cavaliers 5-0.
Games scores were 83-61, 117-86, 90-62 and 116-104. Richmond’s fifth point came courtesy of winning the overall pin count 406-313.
Putting up similar numbers as their first match, the Lady Raiders bowled two strikes and 11 spares. With an average score of 101.5 pins per game, they closed 13-of-42 frames (31%).
Denson and Barnes each bowled eight frames and closed out four of them (50%) to lead the team. Both of them had one strike and three spares.
Wynn kept pace in the anchor spot, rolling a team-high four spares in her 10 frames (40%). Parks was the only other bowler to close a frame, which was a spare. Both Collins and Moore contributed to the win.
Thanks to their two wins Thursday, the Lady Raiders collected nine points in the conference standings.
The Lady Raiders (2-0) will enjoy an extended break and continue the season after the new year. The next meet will be Jan. 8 at Laurinburg Lanes against Hoke County and Scotland high schools.
