ABERDEEN — Richmond Senior High School’s boys’ bowling team ended Thursday’s conference meet with one win and one loss.
Continuing their regular season slate against Sandhills Athletic Conference opponents, the Raiders erased an early deficit against Hoke County High School before falling to Scotland High School.
In the team’s fifth conference meet of the winter, Richmond picked up five points in the conference standings.
“We started the Hoke County match kind of slow, but the guys got into a rhythm in the final two games,” head coach Chris Larsen said. “Those final two games helped us get the overall victory.
“The Scotland match was a tough one, but we picked up one more point than we did last time. It just wasn’t our match. We weren’t as consistent as we usually are and that hurt us in the final pin count.”
Late surge lifts Raiders past Hoke County
Richmond started its match with the Bucks by losing the first two games by scores of 147-179 and 122-178. Facing an 88-pin deficit, the Raiders rallied to win the final two games 207-133 and 193-136.
That swing of 131 pins was the difference maker, leading to a final score of 669-626 and a 3-2 win. Richmond’s bowlers combined for 15 strikes and tied their team season-high in spares (17), whilst averaging a game score of 167.3.
Three bowlers rolled eight frames against the Bucks — seniors Ahjujuan Ewing and Landon Taylor, along with junior Azariah Daniel. Daniel and Taylor both closed 7-of-8 frames (88%) to lead the team, as each Raider had three strikes and four spares.
Ewing closed out half of his frames (4-for-8) with one strike and three helpers.
Senior Jabari Douglas and junior Owen Hancock contributed four frames apiece. Douglas had a .750 closing percentage with three spares and Hancock added one spare.
In the anchor spot of the lineup, senior Landon Summerlin powered the comeback effort with eight strikes and two spares (10-for-12). One strike shy of matching his single-match season-high, Summerlin finished with an .830 closing percentage.
Season-low performance for Raiders against Scotland
Richmond couldn’t keep the overall momentum going against Scotland. The Raiders lost 3-2 by final game scores of 120-173, 169-140, 149-177 and 139-129. Scotland won the decisive third point with a final pin count of 619-577.
As a team, the Raiders closed 23-of-44 frames (52.3%), which was a season-low. Averaging a game score of 144.3 pins, also a season low, Richmond had 14 strikes and nine spares.
Daniel led the way by closing out 75% of his frames, finishing the two matches with an .813 closing percentage, his best outing of the winter. He had a single-match season-high four strikes and two spares against the Fighting Scots.
Douglas (three strikes, two spares) and Taylor (two strikes, three spares) both closed the door on 5-of-8 frames (63%).
Summerlin rolled a team-high five strikes to go along with one helper, ending the match 6-for-12. Ewing added one spare in his four frames and Hancock added to the team’s overall pin total.
The Raiders have 24 points through five meets this season.
Richmond (4-6) will bowl against Southern Lee and Pinecrest high schools next Thursday, starting at 4 p.m. The meet will be held at Laurinburg Lanes.
