Hillsboro bowling teams prepare for postseason
On Jan. 16, the Hillsboro Indians bowling teams competed in the Washington C.H. Baker Bash held at LeElla Lanes. The boys averaged 210 in the 16 games of the qualifying round.
If you take out three of the games, they averaged 222, to earn the No. 1 seed in the elimination round. They would go on to face fourth-seeded Miami Trace in a best-of-three baker match. The Indians lost the first game but rallied back to take the next two to advance to the championship match, where they would bowl against Jonathan Alder.
The Indians knew going into that match it was going to be a battle. The boys came out firing to take a 1-0 lead. Game two went down to the wire, and Jonathan Alder finished the game strong to take it. Coming down to the third and deciding game, with the shots getting tough, all the boys threw great shots to end the match with a clean 222 to Alder's 158.
The Lady Indians had a good match as well, as after they settled into the lane condition, they really started to throw well.
After 16 bakers, the girls team qualified in first place to face No. 4 seeded Jonathan Alder in a best-of-three baker games. The girls took the Jonathan Alder team out in three games, finishing strong and making a statement.
In the championship round against the Washington Lady Blue Lions, the showdown went back-and-forth. The Lady Indians had their chance to take the first game but had a hard time finishing, losing in a ninth- and 10th-frame roll-off.
The Lady Indians battled back to win the second game, only to drop the third and final game to Washington.
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On Jan. 30, the HHS bowling team attended the Central District Preview held at Palace Lanes in Columbus.
The boys had an impressive showing, qualifying after three individual games and six baker games in third place with a 4,166 total pin fall.
In the second round, Hillsboro faced off against Jonathan Alder, battling back and forth for all three games. The boys team put up an impressive 275, throwing the front nine strikes. Jonathan Alder fought back to take the fifth and final game advance, leaving Hillsboro with a third-place finish for the day.
The Lady Indians a great day as well, scoring 3,714 in qualifying rounds, putting them in third place. In the first round, they squared off against Jonathan Alder girls in a best-of-five match.
Hillsboro defeated Alder in four games, then next was Delaware Hayes High School, who took the first game, but the Lady Indians took the following three to advance to the championship match against Briggs High School.
In the final match, neither team shot well, but Briggs edged out Hillsboro by a few pins. The HHS ladies seemed to run out of gas, dropping the next two games to come in second place for the day.
Two individuals for HHS qualified for the All-Tournament teams in Sajoun Jones with a 651 series and Madalyn Miller with a 621 series.
The bowling regular season is drawing near to the end, as the Indians begin to set their sights on what they started out to do and finish as strong as they started on both the boys and girls sides of the lanes.
HHS has one week left in SCOL play, then the SCOL tournament will be held at Highland Lanes (in Hillsboro) on Monday, Feb. 8 at 4 p.m.