By Teddy Rydquist

Review Sports Writer

The Lake Orion boys’ varsity bowling program traveled to Cherry Hill Lanes in Independence Township to compete in the 16th Annual Oakland County Tournament on Jan. 19.

The tournament featured a strong pool of 16 schools in a bracket-style tournament formatted identically to a region in the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s “March Madness.”

The sixth-seeded Dragons topped the 11th-seeded Detroit Catholic Central Shamrocks, 412-409, in the first round.

Lake Orion ran past the third-seeded Novi Wildcats, 382-344, in the second round to advance to the semifinals. It was another group of Wildcats, however, that would put an end to the Dragons’ championship hopes.

Oxford, the eventual tournament champion, defeated Lake Orion by 25 points, 363-338. The Dragons would fall to the Lakeland Eagles, 341-328, in the consolation game to finish the tournament in fourth place.

For a team that had lost each of their two matches since returning from Christmas break, this strong showing was exactly what the doctor ordered.

“A big part of having a strong team is melding the personalities and figuring out how to best reach each individual player,” head coach Denny O’Neill explained. “If there’s any sort of discontent between members of your team, that can have an impact on your success.”

Nearing his United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Gold Level Certification – the highest level attainable – O’Neill has a wealth of experience to offer his pupils. He also goes above and beyond to get to know each player to maximize their performance.

“At the start of the season, I have all the boys take a questionnaire,” he shared. “This will show (assistant coach) Matt Sturm and myself which of the four personality traits each player exemplifies and what kind of coaching they would best respond to.”

One of the Dragons to best embrace these techniques has been senior Brandon Latshaw. The team’s captain, he has the fourth-highest average score on the roster (188.9), including a three-game series of 623 at the Oakland County Tournament.

“Very happy with Brandon, he’s really stood out for us,” O’Neill said. “We have a wide range of guys on this team, Brandon is our only senior, we have a lot of young guys we’re leaning on.”

Freshman Austin Pordon and sophomore Jack Wade, both averaging over 200 this season, embody this. Junior Noah Boice, sophomores Carter Quinn, Ethan Whitling and Alex Winemiller and freshman Austin Walkowski are also contributing at the varsity level.

Carrying yourself with a positive attitude is another key tenant of O’Neill’s program. “In addition to assigning the varsity team and each of our two junior varsity teams a team captain, I also gave each team a designated ‘happy person,’ he shared.

“Even when you bowl a split or leave a couple of pins out there, it’s important to walk away from the lane with a positive attitude because your teammates pick up on that and your attitude can be contagious. Having this ‘happy person’ helps us stay on top of that.”

Competing in the Oakland Activities Association (OAA) Red, Lake Orion dropped their divisional-opener in a nail-biter to the Clarkston Wolves, 16-14, on Jan. 14.

Standing at 2-3 overall, the Dragons will next be in action against an OAA Red foe, the Troy Athens Red Hawks, on Jan. 23 at 3:15 p.m. at Collier Lanes in Oxford. The boys will round out their week by partaking in the Tri-County Invitational at 5 Star Lanes in Sterling Heights on Jan. 25 at 8:30 a.m.