Sidney’s boys and girls bowling teams traveled to Beaver-Vu in Dayton for the preseason Greater Western Ohio Conference tournament on Saturday. The format was three individual games and six baker games. The top eight teams made matchplay.

Sidney’s boys had team scores 1,008, 885 and 931. The Yellow Jackets had a 993 for the six baker games for a grand total of a 3,817. That wasn’t high enough to advance onto matchplay.

Leading the team was Lucas Finke with games of 237, 174 and 247 for a 658 series. Finke was 10th high in the entire tournament. Jaxon Rickey had a 607 series and Austin Simon had a 595 series.

“We just couldn’t get five guys all on rhythm at the same time,” Sidney coach Trent Knoop said. “It seemed we had a couple guys rolling well, but couldn’t find much to go with them during each game. We had carry issues most of the day, and I think that hurt the mental game some.

“We needed to do a better job of adjusting to get more strikes. A big positive of the tournament was our spare shooting. The boys did a very good job covering their spares. We were sitting in ninth place heading into the baker games, so we ended up coming in ninth or 10th place for the tournament. We were missing a key player today in senior, Damion Phillis, due to ACT testing. I think he would of helped out quite a bit with his style of bowling.”

Sidney’s girls had team scores of 585, 589, and 551. The Yellow Jackets had an 814 for the six baker games for a grand total of a 2,539, which wasn’t enough to qualify for matchplay.

Leading the team was Jenna Beatty with a 449 series. Courtney Bridenbaugh had a 429 series.

“We were missing two of our starters this weekend due to a family wedding, so this tournament was about getting the newer girls some good bowling experience,” Knoop said. “Considering the circumstances, I think they handled themselves very well. The shot got a little tough, but they fought hard, which is all we can ask. It’s apparent that progress is being made, and we can see it during practices. We will look to get a victory this coming week during a couple home matches.”

Versailles girls bowling team earns its third win

Versailles’ girls bowling team traveled to Speedway Lanes in New Bremen on Saturday to face the Ansonia Tigers in a conference match. Versailles’ bowlers added another win to their record, scoring 2,188 to Ansonia’s 1,570.

Individual scores for the Tigers included Morgan Barlage (132, 188), Morgan Heitkamp (170, 143), Lindsay Cheadle (154, 144), Makenzie Berning (141, 148) and Haddi Treon (137).

Versailles beat Troy, the defending Division I state champions, on Friday.

“Our adrenaline was high in our match against Troy (on Friday),” Versailles coach Tyler Phlipot said. “I think the girls just didn’t have the fire in them tonight, and the scores reflected. It is difficult to bowl back-to-back nights.”

Jena Mangen and Payton Bulcher assisted in the Baker games, and the Tigers scores were 141, 109, 156, 227 and 125.

Versailles will have another battle on Saturday against Coldwater at McBo’s Lanes in Versailles. The match begins at 9:45 a.m.

Versailles boys bowling team defeats Mississinawa

Versailles’ boys bowling team traveled to Speedway Lanes in New Bremen on Saturday where they faced Mississinawa Valley, coming out ahead 2,428-2,345.

The Tigers had a tough start in game one but fought back during game two, raising their scores and keeping the match within seven pins going in to the two Baker games.

Individual scores for Versailles were Quayd Pearson (155, 187), Tyler Gehret (161, 158), Luke Shellhaas (157, 156), Sam Bensman (146, 150), Chad Shimp (133) and Brandon Bradley (125).

The Baker games started off close with the two teams remaining within 10 pins of one another until the Tigers pulled ahead and dominated games four and five. Pearson, Gehret, Bradley, Bensman and Shellhaas meshed together well in the Baker games with scores of 169, 186, 158, 188 and 199.

The next match for the Tigers is against Minster at 1 p.m. on Saturday at McBo’s Lanes in Versailles.