ABERDEEN — For the first time in five regular-season meets, the Richmond Senior High School girls’ bowling team split its matches Thursday.
Continuing Sandhills Athletic Conference action, the Lady Raiders opened the day with a win over Hoke County High School. That was followed by a loss to Scotland High School, which was only the team’s third loss this winter.
Richmond secured four points with a 4-1 victory against the Lady Bucks and managed to add two more points in the standings in a 3-2 loss to Scotland.
“The later we get in the season, the more and more important the points become,” head coach Ashleigh Larsen explained. “If we can’t sweep a team, getting four points is the next best thing. The girls understood what they needed to do to make that happen against Hoke County.
“The Scotland match could have gone our way had we bowled a little better in the final game,” she continued. “It was going to be close but we didn’t roll as well as we normally do and Scotland had a really good game to seal it.”
Close overall pin total goes Lady Raiders’ way
To begin the meet, Richmond secured its second win over Hoke County in as many tries this season. Final scores were 136-123, 116-105, 139-118 and 80-118.
With the three game victories, Richmond tacked on the pivotal fourth point by winning the overall pin total 471-464.
Despite bowling under their season average, the Lady Raiders closed 15-of-44 frames (34.1%). They combined for eight strikes, seven spares and averaged 117.8 pins per game.
Using all six bowlers on its roster, Richmond relied on senior anchor Ava Thompson to set the pace. She closed 7-of-12 frames (58.3%) with three strikes and four spares.
Managing to pick up half of her frames was senior Hanna Smith. She had a single-match season-high three strikes and added a spare between her eight frames.
Adding to the win were junior Jentry Denson (one strike, one spare), freshman Kaylon Wynn (one strike) and junior Skyler Collins (one spare). Freshman Sydney Barnes knocked down several pins in her four frames.
Fourth game hurst Lady Raiders against Scotland
As Larsen noted, Richmond was in the running to take down Scotland, which was tied with the Lady Raiders for second place entering the match.
Game scores were 128-135, 143-112, 108-94 and 128-191. The 63-pin swing in the final game that favored the Lady Scots gave them the extra point with a final score of 532-507.
Richmond upped its closing percentage to .419 (18-of-43) and had six strikes and a dozen spares as a team. The Lady Raiders averaged 126.8 pins per game.
Denson (4-for-8), Collins (3-for-6) and Barnes (1-for-2) finished the evening by closing 50% of their respective frames. Rolling a strike and three spares was Denson, as Collins had a season-best three spares and Barnes added one more.
Wynn contributed three spares in her eight frames, while Smith had one strike and one spare. Thompson bowled four strikes and one spare in her 11 frames (45.5%).
The Lady Raiders currently have 32 points in the SAC standings through five meets.
Richmond (7-3) will face Southern Lee and Pinecrest high schools next Thursday, starting at 4 p.m at Laurinburg Lanes.
