Fallsnewspress.com - Black Tiger bowlers in solid form as postseason approaches

On Jan. 22, the Black Tiger Varsity Bowling Teams traveled to Sto-Kent Lanes for a rematch with the Stow-Munroe Falls.

Earlier in the season, both Tiger teams defeated Stow at Legend Lanes, with the Lady Tigers breaking Stow's two-year, 31-match conference winning streak, so the Bulldogs were looking to even the season series.

The result was two very close matches, with the Falls boys team losing 2,579-2,570, and the Lady Tigers defeating Stow 2,286-2,275.

In the girls' match, Stow jumped out to an early lead, taking the first game 963-887 despite Justine Anderson rolling a 246 and Raelyn Roxbury Chipping in a 196. I

n the second game, the Tigers outscored the Bulldogs 825-784. The Lady Bulldogs won the first baker game 225-183, taking a commanding 77 pin lead with two baker games left. Then, the Lady Tigers mounted a furious rally, winning the second baker game 215-165, and the third baker game 176-138.

On Jan. 24, the Falls bowlers competed in the Main Event Championships.

The boys team placed second with senior Mike Longhitano compiling the second highest series of the tournament with games of 226, 225, and 246. The boys team rallied in the final baker game with a 242, but finished four pins behind tournament champion Stow, 4,244-4,240.

The girls team placed third. Justine Anderson had the third highest series of the tournament with games of 212, 221, and 224. Raelyn Roxbury also excelled with games of 194, 181, and 203.

The boys and girls teams combined to finished third in the overall school competition, finishing only four pins behind second place Boardman 7,876-7,872.

Although the teams were disappointed to finish just a few pins from placing higher, they did take away many positives from the tournament. The girls defeated sixth place Hudson for the first time this season by 277 pins, and for the first time ever, they beat perennial state finalist Austintown Fitch, who finished in fourth place.

The boys continued their dominance of fifth-place Boardman, defeating them for the third time in three tournaments this season. They also defeated fourth-place Austintown Fitch by 198 pins in their first meeting since last year's Northeast District Championship.

On Jan. 26, both teams swept the season series with Nordonia for the first time in three seasons.

The girls varsity won 2,188-2,056 behind Justine Anderson's 245 and Raelyn Roxbury's 209.

The boys varsity defeated Nordonia 2,700-2,542. Ben Hier led the team with a 263. The Boys JV earned a victory of 2,188-2,056 powered by Ted McAninch's games of 234 and 223.

On Feb. 1, the Varsity Girls set two new school records. Justine Anderson had a 265 and Becca Watkins rolled a 203 in setting a new team game record of 989. They also broke their record for total score by over 150 pins, winning 2,441-2,090 against Garfield Heights.

The girls followed that performance with a 2,169-1,836 victory against Twinsburg Feb. 2 to improve to 14-2 on the season.

The Girls Junior Varsity won the JV Conference Championship and finished their conference season undefeated by beating Garfield Heights 1,696-1,595 and Twinsburg 1,864-1,489.

Hannah McMasters had a high game of 203 and Kayla Makebakken rolled a 192 against Twinsburg.

The boys varsity squad lost to Garfield Heights 2,843-2,801 Feb. 1 despite games of 257, 247, and 243 by Craig Fishel, Ty Hoover, and Ben Hier, respectively. The boys rebounded Feb. 2, defeating Twinsburg 2,661-2,471 behind Ty Hoover's 267 to finish undefeated at home for the third straight year.

The JV Boys have earned at least a share of the JV Conference Championship and can earn the outright Conference Championship with a win over Solon Feb. 8.

-- From staff reports

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