Hillsboro bowling continues winning ways
Lead Summary
By
The Highland County Press-
The Hillsboro Indians bowling program has had a great year so far for both boys and girls teams, with the Lady Indians currently undefeated both in and out of conference play.
After facing teams in tri-match and quad-match formats, the Lady Indians have defeated all 37 of the teams they’ve faced with no losses, and 90 percent of the teams have failed to come within 100 pins of the girls team.
On the tournament side of things, the Lady Indians have flourished as well. After a promising start to the kick off a tourney but an early exit in the championship round with an eighth-place finish, the girls turned toward the Wright State Raider Challenge.
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“We had a rough day that day and failed to make the cut for the championship,” head bowling coach Jeff Miller said. “The girls used that failure as fuel for our next step to a different level, winning the last two tournaments in a row. Their win at the Baker Bash in Chillicothe was one of the most dominant showings I have ever witnessed in a bowling tournament.”
In that tournament, Hillsboro led from the very first game through the opening round and eliminated every team in two games to take home the win. The team was led by senior Madalyn Miller. The Lady Indians also took first place in Washington Court House in the same way.
“Now that senior night is behind us, we now shift our focus on the postseason play we are facing,” Miller said. “The girls have been moved to Div. II because of student count, so we have a new set of opposition to get to the state level. Our goal from the beginning was to make it to state.”
The Lady Indians enter the postseason with the aforementioned 37-0 overall record and a 9-0 record in the Frontier Athletic Conference. In postseason play, the Lady Indians will first compete in the FAC tournament in Chillicothe on Feb. 10. The Lady Indians are seeded to win that event, which would mean bringing home a record-setting fourth consecutive conference championship. Sectional tournament play begins Feb. 16 in Chillicothe.
In a rebuilding year after losing their top three bowlers from last year’s state runner-up season, the work ethic of the boys bowling team has paid off in a big way.
“Nobody knew what to expect this year,” Miller said. “We have had huge successes in past years, making it to state for the last three years in a row. However, we have graduated six members of those teams since that time, including our top three last year.”
The Indians currently lead the FAC standings, with an 8-1 conference record and 35-2 overall record.
“Coming together as a team has been a challenge this year,” Miller said. “We have a lot of new faces starting varsity and kids trying to make it to that level makes it hard not to compete with their teammates, but we get stronger every match.”
For the third match in a row, the Indians have averaged over 200 as a team, and their chemistry is coming together. The team includes eight boys whom the coaching staff has full confidence can go in and score at any point in time.
“We only play five at a time, so we have to work on our inner team rivalry issues,” Miller said. “We are starting to show great improvement at larger tournaments, and that is a good thing at this point of the season.”
The Indians finished in second place at Washington Court House and dropped a game to Miami Trace last month. Since then, led by sophomore Hayden Miller and junior Christian McConehea, the boys team has done nothing but win, including returning the favor to Miami Trace when the Indians played them at home last week.
Entering the upcoming FAC tournament, the Indians will have to finish ahead of Miami Trace to take home the FAC championship.
Because the boys team is playing in Division I, they will not bowl a sectional and will advance directly to the district tournament in Columbus. Districts will be held March 3 at Park Lanes.
“Coaches Cathy Rhoads, Jaxsun Miller and I have a great feeling about things to come with these teams,” Miller said. “It would be great to see these kids finish with the momentum that they have now.
“If they do and they continue to listen and develop the way they have in the past few weeks, we might do something truly special.”
After facing teams in tri-match and quad-match formats, the Lady Indians have defeated all 37 of the teams they’ve faced with no losses, and 90 percent of the teams have failed to come within 100 pins of the girls team.
On the tournament side of things, the Lady Indians have flourished as well. After a promising start to the kick off a tourney but an early exit in the championship round with an eighth-place finish, the girls turned toward the Wright State Raider Challenge.
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“We had a rough day that day and failed to make the cut for the championship,” head bowling coach Jeff Miller said. “The girls used that failure as fuel for our next step to a different level, winning the last two tournaments in a row. Their win at the Baker Bash in Chillicothe was one of the most dominant showings I have ever witnessed in a bowling tournament.”
In that tournament, Hillsboro led from the very first game through the opening round and eliminated every team in two games to take home the win. The team was led by senior Madalyn Miller. The Lady Indians also took first place in Washington Court House in the same way.
“Now that senior night is behind us, we now shift our focus on the postseason play we are facing,” Miller said. “The girls have been moved to Div. II because of student count, so we have a new set of opposition to get to the state level. Our goal from the beginning was to make it to state.”
The Lady Indians enter the postseason with the aforementioned 37-0 overall record and a 9-0 record in the Frontier Athletic Conference. In postseason play, the Lady Indians will first compete in the FAC tournament in Chillicothe on Feb. 10. The Lady Indians are seeded to win that event, which would mean bringing home a record-setting fourth consecutive conference championship. Sectional tournament play begins Feb. 16 in Chillicothe.
In a rebuilding year after losing their top three bowlers from last year’s state runner-up season, the work ethic of the boys bowling team has paid off in a big way.
“Nobody knew what to expect this year,” Miller said. “We have had huge successes in past years, making it to state for the last three years in a row. However, we have graduated six members of those teams since that time, including our top three last year.”
The Indians currently lead the FAC standings, with an 8-1 conference record and 35-2 overall record.
“Coming together as a team has been a challenge this year,” Miller said. “We have a lot of new faces starting varsity and kids trying to make it to that level makes it hard not to compete with their teammates, but we get stronger every match.”
For the third match in a row, the Indians have averaged over 200 as a team, and their chemistry is coming together. The team includes eight boys whom the coaching staff has full confidence can go in and score at any point in time.
“We only play five at a time, so we have to work on our inner team rivalry issues,” Miller said. “We are starting to show great improvement at larger tournaments, and that is a good thing at this point of the season.”
The Indians finished in second place at Washington Court House and dropped a game to Miami Trace last month. Since then, led by sophomore Hayden Miller and junior Christian McConehea, the boys team has done nothing but win, including returning the favor to Miami Trace when the Indians played them at home last week.
Entering the upcoming FAC tournament, the Indians will have to finish ahead of Miami Trace to take home the FAC championship.
Because the boys team is playing in Division I, they will not bowl a sectional and will advance directly to the district tournament in Columbus. Districts will be held March 3 at Park Lanes.
“Coaches Cathy Rhoads, Jaxsun Miller and I have a great feeling about things to come with these teams,” Miller said. “It would be great to see these kids finish with the momentum that they have now.
“If they do and they continue to listen and develop the way they have in the past few weeks, we might do something truly special.”