After finishing second at Regionals last year, the Varsity Girls bowling team wanted to make sure they didn’t fall short this year.
Their efforts paid off as they were crowned regionals champs on Feb. 27 after two days of solid bowling at Oak Lanes in Westland.
‘This is a good team,? said Head Coach JR. Lafnear. ‘It has senior leadership and experience under pressure.?
As soon as the tournament began, the girls let everyone know that they were going to be the team to beat after claiming the top spot after the first six baker games.
Sophomore Heather Lafnear continued the girls success by bowling a 205 in the first game and senior Kelly Cartner followed with a 192 game to give the Wildcats an 804 game. However, they found themselves falling to second after Warren Regina bowled an 833 game.
The girls responded in the second game by bowling a regional high 869 game in game two.
They were led by Cartner’s 214 and senior Sarah Decker’s 225. Their game three score of 794 would be enough to give them the regional title.
The boys qualified for states with their second place effort at Regionals.
They found themselves sitting in the top three after the baker portion of the tournament. Senior Corey Young had seven strikes in 12 frames, while senior captain Mike Magyar stepped up big in the 10th frame when the pressure was on.
Oxford vaulted into the top spot when they bowled a 1010 in game one. Young’s 213, junior John Garza’s 204 and Magyar’s 216 would lead the way for the Wildcats.
They fell to second after game two and found themselves battling with six other teams for the top three spots.
They claimed a spot in the state finals after bowling a 893 third game, finishing one pin ahead of Hazel Park for second.
‘This was only the second time we have gone to the finals and we couldn’t be happier,? said Lafnear. ‘This team hung in all year and did a solid job today.?
Last year the team finished 18th in the team finals, so they are looking to improve on that said Lafnear.
Individually, the Wildcats qualified four bowlers for the state finals.
Senior Ross Hadden will be the sole representative for the boys after qualifying in ninth position with a score of 1150 over six games. The girls will send three bowlers to states, Decker, Cartner and Lafnear.
All three ladies qualified in the top five, with Decker qualifying fifth, Cartner in fourth and Lafnear in second.
This will be Decker and Lafnear’s first trip to the finals, while Cartner will be making her third consecutive trip as a Wildcat.
‘This is the heart of the girls team. These three young ladies are capable going a long way in the state finals. They were very impressive to watch,? said Coach Lafnear.
The team travels to Canton on Friday, March 5 for the team finals and March 6 for individual finals.