LAURINBURG — Needing to start a late-season push if it wants to make the postseason, the Richmond Senior High School boys’ bowling team won one of its two matches Thursday.
On the lanes for the first time in the new year, the Raiders faced a pair of Moore County opponents at Laurinburg Lanes in the fourth Sandhills Athletic Conference meet of the season.
Richmond let an early lead slip away in a loss to Pinecrest High School, before rebounding and sweeping Union Pines High School for some much-needed points in the standings.
“We knew heading into our matches this week that if we wanted to make the postseason we needed to try and get as many points as possible,” head coach Chris Larsen said.
“It was good to end the day with five points against Union Pines, but I think we left some chances out there against Pinecrest. That ended up being a really close match and if a few pins fell here and there, we could have won.”
Season-high strikes no enough against Pinecrest
The Raiders rolled 23 strikes as a team against Pinecrest, a single-match season-high, but they lost 4-1 to the Patriots. Game scores were 184-138, 179-185, 177-209 and 164-183, ending in an 11-point loss 715-704.
Richmond added nine spares, closed 32-of-45 frames (71.1%) and averaged a game score of 176 pins.
Senior Landon Summerlin, bowling from the anchor spot in the lineup, set season-bests in single-match strikes (9) and closing percentage (12-for-13, 92%). In addition to his strike total, Summerlin also bowled three spares.
Fellow senior Landon Taylor also put up a single-match season-high with six strikes. He notched one helper to close 7-of-8 frames (88%).
Three other Raiders closed out frames at a rate better than 50% — senior Jabari Douglas (6-for-8, 75%, 4 strikes, 2 spares), junior Azariah Daniel (5-for-8, 63%, 3 strikes, 2 spares) and senior Ahjujuan Ewing (2-for-4, 50%, 1 strike, 1 spare).
Also bowling in the match, but not able to close any of his four frames, was junior Owen Hancock.
Raiders collect five points in sweep of Union Pines
Able to recover in their second match, the Raiders blanked the Vikings behind game scores of 163-144, 208-122, 177-111 and 121-120. The final score was 669-497, giving Richmond the fifth point.
Averaging 167.3 pins per game, the Raiders had a .636 closing percentage (28-of-44) and recorded 16 strikes and 12 spares.
Douglas led the Raiders in the match, setting personal bests this season in total strikes (5) and closing percentage (6-for-6, 100%). He had five perfect rolls and added one spare.
Summerlin, who ended the meet with a season-high 19-for-21 closing percentage (90.5%), stayed true with four strikes and three spares in his eight frames. Taylor added three strikes and three spares in the win.
Hancock rolled a strike and three spares in his eight frames, Daniel contributed a pair of strikes and a pair of spares and Ewing had one strike in his four attempts. Helping knock down some pins in the final game was junior Tate Craven.
Through four regular season meets, the Raiders have accumulated 19 points in the SAC standings. Entering Thursday’s meet, they were in fourth place.
Richmond (3-5) will return to the Sandhills Bowling Center in Aberdeen Thursday for two more conference matches against Hoke County and Scotland high schools. Matches will start at 4 p.m.
PHOTOS: Click here to view photos of Richmond’s conference matches from Thursday.