Staff report

The Sidney High bowling teams competed Saturday in the Buckeye Classic at HP Lanes in Columbus, where they bowled three individual games and six baker games.

There were 25 boys teams and 22 girls teams in the competition and only the top four made it to match play.

The Sidney boys team came close to reaching match play but didn’t quite make it.

“We were very close to the cut all day long,” said Sidney coach Trent Knoop. “After the first three regular games we were sitting in sixth place, 135 pins away from 4th, which is within striking distance of fourth place going into the baker rounds.”

Sidney had a good round of baker games, including a 258 game. But also mixed in with those six games was a 144, and the Jackets couldn’t overcome it.

“We had a good baker round, but the 144 game in there ultimately hurt us,” Knoop said. “We ended up coming in sixth place out of 25 teams. There were a lot of good teams there, and we had a good showing. We were without one of our starters this weekend, but the boys stepped up when they needed to.”

Josh Abbott led the team with a 601 series on games of 200, 234 and 167. He was 13th overall out of 141 bowlers.

Austin Simon had a 587 series with games of 202, 178 and 207. He was 15th overall.

Freshman Harrison Fisher had a 350 in two games, with games of 180 and 170, and Damion Phillis rolled a 180 and a 157 for a 337.

Sidney had 2619 in regular games and 1125 in baker.

“I was happy overall with how the boys bowled,” Knoop added. “It was a sport shot pattern, and they handled themselves well.”

Final team standings — 1. Urbana 4259, 2. Youngstown Boardman 3850, 3. Struthers 3830, 4. Kenton Ridge 3810, 5. Austintown Tich 3753, 6. SIDNEY 3744, 7. Claymont 3630, 8. Springfield 3613, 9. Delaware Hayes 3612, 10. Groveport 3478, 11. Elyria Catholic 3456, 12. Jonathan Alder 3426, 13. New Lexington 3414, 14. Marion Harding 3396, 15. Mechanicsburg 3372, 16. Lexington 3345, 17. North Olmstead 3330, 18. Big Walnut 3283, 19. Hilliard Bradley 3140, 20. Fredericktown 2980, 21. Johnstown Monroe 2948, 22. North Union 2886, 23. Reynoldsburg 2809, 24. Marion Elgin 2781, 25. West Liberty-Salem 2537.

Match play championship — Boardman over Kenton Ridge 2-1.

• The Sidney High girls struggled with a difficult shot,” said Knoop.

“It was very difficult and we had a few issues with the lane,” said the coach. “We shot two decent games, with a bad one in there that hurt us.”

Sidney’s first three baker games were 125, 93 and 113. However, they finished up with games of 170, 166 and 201, which Knoop said were better than any other team in the competition.

“It’s good to finish the game strong, especially after struggling,” he said. “The girls can hold their heads high after finishing that strong. We know how to attack the lanes differently the next time we run into this pattern.”

Heather Gold led the Lady Jackets with a 515 series on games of 175, 140 and 200. Jenna Beatty had a 454 on games of 156, 137 and 161.

Sidney had 1987 in regular games and 868 in baker to finish with a 2855.

Final team standings — 1. Gahanna Lincoln 3468, 2. Kenton Ridge 3454, 3. Menton 3441, 4. Jonathan Alder 3333, 5. Mechanicsburg 3263, 6. Marion Elgin 3226, 7. North Olmstead 3092, 8. Lexington 3014, 9. Delaware Hayes 2996, 10. Austintown Fitch 2980, 11. Fredericktown 2958, 12. Marion Harding 2922, 13. Boardman 2903, 14. North Union 2868, 15. SIDNEY 2855, 16. Springfield 2822, 17. Hilliard Bradley 2737, 18. Urbana 2710, 19. Claymont 2602, 20. Big Walnut 2541, 21. New Lexington 2437, 22. West Liberty-Salem 2327.

Match play championship — Jonathan Alder over Kenton Ridge 2-1.