Staff report
TROY — The boys bowling teams from Sidney and Troy battled right to the end in a Greater Western Ohio Conference North battle Thursday in Troy, and it wound up being decided by just three pins.
Sidney had 2,375 and Troy 2,372, and the victory clinched at least a share of the North championship for the Yellow Jackets, who are 8-0 with a two-game lead over Vandalia. Overall, the Jackets are now 13-3.
“All I can say is Wow, what a match,” said Sidney coach Trent Knoop. “This is a great feat. It’s a goal we strive for every year as a program. Getting a GWOC title is something to be proud of, especially with so many good teams. Troy bowled really well and you have to give them their props. Our kids just fought very hard, and they never gave up. There were multiple times where they could have, but they never did. We will most certainly enjoy this moment, but we still have two matches left. Need to focus on both of those. We still have a shot to go 10-0 in conference play, and that is what we want to accomplish.”
In the regular games, Sidney was led by Austin Simon with a 439 on games of 204 and 235, and Damon Hufman with a 437 on games of 199 and 238.
Matt Elliott rolled a 205 and a 178 for 383, and Josh Abbott added a 250 game.
Troy won the first round of regular games 997-920, but Sidney came back to take the second round, 1076-1026. Troy still let by 27 pins, but Sidney outpointed the Trojans by 30 in baker to pull out the win.
Sidney’s baker games were 201 and 178 to Troy’s 201 and 148.
GWOC North standings — Sidney 8-0 (13-3), Vandalia 6-2 (11-2), Troy 5-4 (7-10), Piqua 4-5 (6-8), Greenville 2-7 (2-8), Trotwood 0-7 (0-7).
Girls
The Sidney girls ran into North co-leader Troy and were defeated 2371 to 1885.
Sidney drops to 4-4 in the North and 9-7 overall.
Jenna Beatty had a 341 series with games of 174 and 167 to lead the Lady Jackets. Heather Gold rolled a 200 game.
Sidney had baker games of 159 and 157, to Troy’s 219 and 178.
“We got beat by, arguably, the best team in GWOC,” Knoop said. “They bowled very well, and that score they shot would beat a lot of boys teams. We were without one of our top bowlers tonight, and that hurt some. We need some more confidence in our game, and we need to get the girls bowling well at the same time. We have our big tournaments coming up soon, and I think the girls are ready. They have been doing a much better job overall as of late. We are ready for any task ahead of us.”
GWOC North standings — Troy 7-2 (15-2), Vandalia 6-2 (10-2), Piqua 6-3 (8-6), Sidney 4-4 (9-7), Greenville 2-7 (3-8), Trotwood 0-7 (0-7)
