Staff report
The Sidney High School boys bowling team remained unbeaten in Greater Western Ohio Conference North action with a 2524 to 2380 victory over Vandalia in action on the road.
It was a key win for the Yellow Jackets, since Vandalia went into the match just one game behind in the North standings.
Sidney is now 11-3 overall 6-0 in the North, and holds a two-game lead over both Troy and Vandalia. The Jackets will try to remain unbeaten in the league when Piqua comes to Bel-Mar Lanes Thursday.
Damon Huffman led the Jackets with a 465 series on games of 197 and the high game of the match, a 268.
Austin Simon also bowled with games of 214 and 234 for a 448, and Matt Elliott had a 180 and a 238 for a 418. Josh Abbott rolled a 197 and a 210 for a 407, and Jamie Wallis had games of 196 and 189 for a 385 series.
Sidney bowled well in baker, with games of 212 and 189. But Vandalia won both with a 225 and a 226.
“We are two full games ahead of Troy and Butler for the divisional lead in the North,” said Sidney coach Trent Knoop. “I made sure the boys were aware how big of a match this was tonight. If we win, we control our own destiny. They came out and bowled arguably the best they have all season. In the second regular game we shot an 1139, which is phenomenal. he boys did a great job with spare shooting tonight. We shot a 2524 doing a great job at the most important aspect of the game—spares. This is what we are capable of doing every match.”
The Lady Jackets fell to 3-3 in the North and 8-6 overall after losing to Vandalia 2147 to 1855.
Sidney was led by Ariona Grisham with a 363 on games of 191 and 172. Morgan Carey had games of 189 and 153 for a 342, Heather Gold had a 165 and 163 for a 328 and Jenna Beatty had a 188 and 138 for a 326.
Sidney’s baker games were 125 and 149, compared to two 222s for Vandalia.
“This would have been a big win in our quest of a GWOC North title,” said Knoop. “We still have an outside shot, but we will need to win out, and get a little help from a few teams. We were only down 21 pins after the first game, but we dropped the ball bad the second game, shooting only a 729 team score. We couldn’t get all of our girls on at the same time. “
Pirate Challenge
The Sidney teams competed in the Pirate Challenge over the weekend.
The boys shot games of 850, 790 and 925 to qualify fourth overall for the finals.
Leading the boys was Josh Abbott with games of 203, 167 and 234 for a 604 series. Damon Huffman had games of 197, 176 and 158 for a 531 series, Matt Elliott had games of 167, 164 and 197 for a 528 series and Austin Simon had a 465 series.
Abbott ended up making the All Tournament Team with his 604 series.
“Josh really rolled the ball good all day,” said Knoop. “He started the tournament off struggling a little bit, so he and I decided he should make a ball change, and it was up from there. He had a few opens in there, hence the 167 game, but he really bowled great all day long.”
Sidney drew Emmanuel Christian the first round and lost 2-0.
“We had a few opens in there at the wrong time that really cost us,” said Knoop. “The guys fought all day, but we cost ourselves at inopportune times. I know this seems repetitive every posting, but spares are what cost us. We had 18 opens the first regular game, and 19 opens the second. We will continue to have low scores if we can’t make our spares.”
• The Lady Jackets also qualified for the finals, finishing sixth in the qualifying round. They drew Northmont in the first round lost 2-0 by four and five pins.
Jenna Beatty led the team with games of 169, 170 and 163 for a 502 series. Heather Gold had games of 141, 165 and 182 for a 488 series. Ariona Grisham had a 159, 138 and 143 for a 440 series. Emily Reid had a 424 series. Morgan Carey had a 184.
“Same as the boys, just a few opens at the wrong time,” said Knoop. “Bravo to the girls though, we had our seventh and eighth girls on varsity not there this weekend due sickness. They were able to fight and qualify to match play with only our main six girls. The more they are able to get their mental games on track the better they will be. They miss so many easy spares, and make so many errant shots due to getting upset about their first shot. I believe a lot of it is a confidence thing. But overall, I keep seeing progress. The GWOC tournament and sectionals are coming up very soon, so they need to keep working hard. We are so close to being really good.”
