LAURINBURG — A long break between meets didn’t stop the Richmond Senior High School girls’ bowling team from staying in the win column Thursday.
Returning to the lanes for the first time since mid December, the Lady Raiders kept their perfect start to the season intact.
Playing two best-of-four game matches against Scotland and Hoke County high schools, Richmond cruised to a pair of wins to extend its winning streak to four matches to start the season.
The Lady Raiders started the day with a 3-2 win over the Lady Scots, before shutting out Hoke County 5-0. Both times Richmond earned the fifth point thanks to a higher pin total.
Consistency was key for Richmond, which closed 42-of-86 frames across both matches, finishing with a season-best combined closing percentage of .488. In each win, the Lady Raiders went 21-for-43 (48.8%), which was a season best.
Pin count determines win over Scotland
A back-and-forth battle resulted in Richmond and Scotland splitting the four games by scores of 153-118, 115-119, 130-112 and 129-162. Fortunately for the Lady Raiders, the final pin count favored them 527-511 for the match-winning point.
Averaging 131.8 pins per game, the Lady Raiders bowled four strikes and had a single-match season-high 17 spares.
A trio of bowlers — senior Jentry Denson and sophomore Sydney Barnes and Kaylon Wynn — were at 50% or better at closing out frames.
Denson led the team by closing out 5-of-8 frames (63%). She rolled a strike and four spares.
Wynn, who secured the team’s lineup in the anchor spot during the fifth and 10th frames, finished the match with one strike and five spares. She closed 6-of-11 frames (55%).
Barnes contributed to the win with two strikes and two spares in her eight frames (50%).
Senior Skyler Collins and junior Jorja Moore each ended the match with a .380 closing percentage. Both of them added three spares.
Lady Raiders blank Hoke County behind several season-highs
In what proved to be an easier task against Hoke County, the Lady Raiders won big thanks to game scores of 122-96, 166-107, 113-95 and 160-106. For good measure, they added the fifth point with a pin total victory of 561-404.
The match against the Lady Bucks also resulted in several season-highs for Richmond. That included seven strikes, a game average score of 140.3, a single-game high score of 166 and a total pin count (561).
Leading the charge this time were Barnes and Moore, both of whom closed 5-of-8 frames (63%). Barnes had two strikes and three spares, while Moore bowled one strike and three helpers.
Wynn and Denson were also consistent in the second match, closing out 55% and 50% of their frames, respectively. Going 6-for-11 again, Wynn had two strikes and four spares, while Denson became the third Lady Raider with two strikes to go with her two spares.
Collins helped keep the shutout intact with a strike and a spare in her eight frames. The team finished the match with 14 spares.
The Lady Raiders (4-0) won’t bowl again until Jan. 20. They’ll face Lee County and West Johnston high schools at the Sandhills Bowling Center beginning at 4 p.m.
PHOTOS: Click here to view a photo gallery of Thursday’s matches.
