Hillsboro girls bowling making inaugural visit to state tournament
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
It has been a few years on the horizon, but the Hillsboro Lady Indians bowling team has qualified for the OHSAA Division II State Bowling Tournament, and they have stamped their ticket to state with an undefeated record this season.
Hillsboro cruised through the regular season undefeated, won the Frontier Athletic Conference title, won a sectional title and for good measure they were crowned champions of the district this past weekend to continue their strong season.
The Lady Indians were district champions with a final team total of 3,659, outscoring second-place Miami Trace by 256 pins. At sectionals, Hillsboro finished with a score of 3,493 for first place.
“We’ve had some good teams in the past. We just haven’t been able to get over that district tournament hump,” Hillsboro coach Jeff Miller said. “This year, we have a couple of freshmen that have been a huge contribution to the team. I don’t know whether they didn’t realize how big the platform was they were bowling on, but they kept it light all day (at districts), and that’s how they’ve been able to stay loose and bowl well.”
Hillsboro coach Cathy Rhoads also spoke about the Lady Indians and their path to reaching the state tournament.
“We’ve struggled the last few years, and we got up there (districts) this year and went in there and told them to start throwing strikes, and if they didn’t make a strike, to make their spares and they would be fine,” she said. “We told them to look ahead and not look back, and that’s exactly what they did.”
The statebound Lady Indians team consists of senior Olivia Wilson, junior Haley Hughes, junior Breanna Little, sophomore Selena Mingua, freshman Taylor Jordan and freshman Maddie Tomko.
“We knew we had a strong freshman class. We had a couple youth bowlers that had been bowling in the youth leagues the past couple years, and we knew they were coming into the program. Neither Cathy nor myself expected Maddie to step up the way she has,” Miller said. “She has really stepped into the varsity role and has done very, very well for herself and for the team this year. It’s like the boys team – there’s a legacy there that all these teams want to recreate all the magic that’s happened in the past. We’ve had fantastic bowling from our boys teams in the past. The girls were really eager to be able to get up there and see what they could do.
“We finished the season 31-0, and that makes us completely undefeated in regular match play for over three years on the girls side. When it came to districts, the girls teams in the past always kind of held on a little too tight, and that’s where they kind of dropped it on the day of districts. It all boils down to that one day, whether or not you make the show for state – and that’s exactly what it is. It’s a show. That’s where this team flourished, and they’re ready for it.”
Coach Rhoads spoke about the girls and how close they are as a team.
“They stayed together not only as a team, but they’re family,” she said. “These girls hang together, they work together, they cheered together. That was our big thing right there. They kept their spirits up. They kept cheering, and they kept going and kept going.”
Wilson is the lone senior on the team for the Lady Indians, as she has seen the ups and downs of the program and felt the heartbreak of not reaching the state tournament after very successful regular seasons. Wilson, who is battling an injury, said she’ll be ready to bowl at state this weekend and is ready for the challenge.
“I actually just did this (injury) on Sunday, but we are going to be bowling by Friday. I’m just going to take it (a boot) off and wrap it up. I’m just going to do it, just going to go with it,” Wilson said. “This season has actually been pretty good. My average hasn’t been as high, but I’ve also changed a lot of things about the way I’ve bowled, so it has had an effect on my average.”
Wilson, who has been bowling since the age of 4, has been a member of the Hillsboro team all four years of high school and spoke about how exciting this season has been.
“To finally make it to state after being so close – it’s life-changing, almost. I never thought we would make it, but we worked together as a team and made it. It made it super special,” she said. “I’m looking forward to coming together as a team and doing team bonding. We’ll have practice the night before, and we can work as a team better once we come together. I feel like at the hotel and stuff, we’ll come together more.”
Hughes — a junior — said making state was an amazing feeling, especially after not qualifying last season.
“We tried so hard last year, and it would have meant so much for our seniors last year who graduated, but I’m just glad we got to give Olivia the chance to go out with a bang her senior year. We’re all so excited and pumped for it,” Hughes said. “It means a lot to me because I don’t see this as a team, I see them as a family to me. We’re all so close, and we’ve worked so hard all year long to overcome different obstacles, like injuries and everything. It means a lot that we finally have made it to state.”
Hughes has been bowling her freshman year and said she’d never really played the sport before at a competitive level.
“Our coach’s son, Hayden, is in my grade, and he told me I should bowl because I play softball, so I have to have an arm and have hand-eye coordination, so I should do it,” she said. “Well, I wasn’t sure about it, and then he got my friend Breanna to do it, so then I came with her, and then Coach Miller had me try out anyway, just to see. I ended up making varsity, and I went from bowling not even 100 to bowling 200 games. I was shocked and impressed about how much competition and how much there is.”
Hughes also spoke about improving her bowling game and learning the technical aspects of the sport.
“Hooking the ball is something I never thought I would be able to do – I always saw people out here spin the ball, where it comes out of the gutter and comes straight back,” she said. “My freshman year when I saw people doing that, I was like ‘holy crap, how do they do that?’ When I was finally able to get it down and was able to change – there’s a lot of discipline going into it. I practice a good bit during the summer. I have 4-H goats and livestock going on and softball, but I try to come in here (to the bowling alley) once a week at least. Other times, I came in more, but it just fluctuated between work and everything. But the more you do it, the better it is.”
Little is a junior for Hillsboro and has been a member of the Lady Indians for the past three years, and she spoke about what making state was like for her and her start as a bowler as well.
“It’s absolutely amazing. I’m really happy that we have two really good freshmen on our team who are varsity starters and are able to help us go over this hump. We were all crying. We were so excited,” she said of making state.
Little talked about how she became involved with the team.
“It’s a funny story,” she said. “(Coach) Miller’s son Hayden, he told me to come to practice and come to the tryouts. I didn’t want to. I didn’t want any part of bowling. I came to the last day of tryouts, and I fell in love with it, and I’ve been in love with bowling ever since. The team in general is just amazing, and I’ve never had a connection with a coach and a sport like I have with bowling. Bowling’s something different from most physical sports, too, which I really love.”
Little also talked about the work that goes into making state and her thoughts before the tournament.
“We have put a lot of time and practice and a lot of hard work into practicing, and winning sectionals and getting ready for districts, we were pretty confident (we could make state).
“It’s really nerve-wracking, but we’re all trying to be there for each other and really being confident and helping each other out. I’m really excited for that, just being with the team and being a part of something really special.”
Mingua is a sophomore for the Lady Indians, and she’s now bowled two years with the program, but she began bowling at a very young age as well.
“This is my second year on the team. I first started bowling when I was about 5 years old,” she said. “I grew up bowling at Georgetown, but recently, the age after 5, my parents started bowling here and it just went on from there. I started bowling, and I started liking it, so as I continued to bowl, I started loving it. Since I was younger, coming to the high school bowling team has always been one of my goals.
“The moment we made state was very exciting. I’m proud of these girls personally and also proud of myself. It was a very happy moment.”
Mingua also talked about her bowling habits throughout the year.
“I bowl year-round,” she said. “I come in here during the summer and practice, during the winter I practice – I just practice and practice. One thing I like most about the sport is the girls kind of feel like my support group. If I’m having a bad day, they make it better, and the teamsmanship we have is just awesome.
“This weekend, I am mostly looking forward to all of our competition that we have. Our competition pushes us to work harder and to do better. That’s something that I think that we need.”
Then there are the two freshmen starters in Jordan and Tomko, whom their teammates and coaches have basically described as game-changers.
“It’s really exciting. At the beginning, I kind of wasn’t expecting us to make it, until now that we actually are. I think it’s really amazing. With the team that we have been together throughout this year and improving so much, we’re doing great,” Jordan said, who has been bowling since she was around 5 years old. “It was amazing because we kept our heads up and didn’t get down on ourselves. We had a positive mind.”
Tomko also spoke about her first season bowling for the varsity Lady Indians, qualifying for state and her start in the sport.
“It’s exciting. It definitely helped build my confidence a lot, just being part of this team with good coaches, good teammates. It’s good experience to have my first year,” Tomko said. “It’s definitely going to be a different experience for me (bowling at state). I’ve never been to anything like this. I’ve been to multiple tournaments, but I think this is just going to be something completely different. I’m excited and looking forward to having the experience and doing it with my team.
“One of my friends’ moms got me into it. I started bowling in a league last year, and then I decided to come and try out because I enjoyed the sport. I think it’s a lot of just the team bonding – you get to spend so much time with your teammates, and when you struggle, your teammates are there to pick you back up. It’s nice because bowling is kind of a small team. You don’t have so many people, and you get to have those personal bonds with each other.”
As the team worked to get to the state tournament, Coach Miller said he realized the moment this team was special came in a match held at Highland Lanes.
“On our senior night, our girls actually beat every other team we were facing that evening, including every varsity boys team (except for the HHS Indians) by about 150 pins. Our boys obviously beat everybody by more than that, but our girls beat every other varsity boys team,” Miller said. “What can you say? They didn’t waver (at districts). They kept the hammer down all day, all season, all postseason – they’ve not wavered once. I don’t see them stepping off that plate when it comes to Friday. They’re fantastic.
“Throughout this year, our averages are pretty strong, Selena being our highest average. We have had teams that have averaged, as a team, a little bit stronger, but not with the chemistry these ladies have. That’s where a lot of boils down to – team chemistry and whether or not you can step up and make the shot when you have to. That’s where this team has stepped up where the other teams have not.”
Just making state was a goal of the Lady Indians, but now they have even higher aspirations as they’ve put in a lot of practice and hard work to get where they are.
“The coachability of these girls is very important,” Miller said. “A lot of our kids bowl throughout the summer. They bowl year-round to be able to keep themselves prepared for the season. They get into habits where we have to come in and break them, and they get a bit stubborn at times, and it’s the stubbornness that’s the hardest thing to break – getting them listening, and the only thing that makes them comply with what we’re doing is when they see what we’re telling them to give them success.
“When they see the success, then they’ll stick with it, but if it doesn’t work out right away for them, they’re creatures of habit and will go back to what works. That’s where we really have to kind of get on them.”
Miller said that they have looked at the field at this year’s state tournament, and the girls are ready to “make a statement.”
“I’ve researched a lot of our competition,” he said. “Out of 16 teams there, they’re going to be in the top eight of them for sure. As long as they bowl the way they should, we should have no problem making the cut to the championship round.
“There’s a couple schools that are concerning, a couple schools that can bowl, but we’re not going to look past anybody. We’re going to go out there from game one and do our best to make a statement. We’re going to go up for the practice session the day before, and we’re going to make quick adjustments on the state pattern as we need to right there on the lanes so we can get the girls the best look we can.”
All of the bowlers expressed thanks to their coaches, family, friends and teammates for all of their support in their path to the state tournament.
Hillsboro cruised through the regular season undefeated, won the Frontier Athletic Conference title, won a sectional title and for good measure they were crowned champions of the district this past weekend to continue their strong season.
The Lady Indians were district champions with a final team total of 3,659, outscoring second-place Miami Trace by 256 pins. At sectionals, Hillsboro finished with a score of 3,493 for first place.
“We’ve had some good teams in the past. We just haven’t been able to get over that district tournament hump,” Hillsboro coach Jeff Miller said. “This year, we have a couple of freshmen that have been a huge contribution to the team. I don’t know whether they didn’t realize how big the platform was they were bowling on, but they kept it light all day (at districts), and that’s how they’ve been able to stay loose and bowl well.”
Hillsboro coach Cathy Rhoads also spoke about the Lady Indians and their path to reaching the state tournament.
“We’ve struggled the last few years, and we got up there (districts) this year and went in there and told them to start throwing strikes, and if they didn’t make a strike, to make their spares and they would be fine,” she said. “We told them to look ahead and not look back, and that’s exactly what they did.”
The statebound Lady Indians team consists of senior Olivia Wilson, junior Haley Hughes, junior Breanna Little, sophomore Selena Mingua, freshman Taylor Jordan and freshman Maddie Tomko.
“We knew we had a strong freshman class. We had a couple youth bowlers that had been bowling in the youth leagues the past couple years, and we knew they were coming into the program. Neither Cathy nor myself expected Maddie to step up the way she has,” Miller said. “She has really stepped into the varsity role and has done very, very well for herself and for the team this year. It’s like the boys team – there’s a legacy there that all these teams want to recreate all the magic that’s happened in the past. We’ve had fantastic bowling from our boys teams in the past. The girls were really eager to be able to get up there and see what they could do.
“We finished the season 31-0, and that makes us completely undefeated in regular match play for over three years on the girls side. When it came to districts, the girls teams in the past always kind of held on a little too tight, and that’s where they kind of dropped it on the day of districts. It all boils down to that one day, whether or not you make the show for state – and that’s exactly what it is. It’s a show. That’s where this team flourished, and they’re ready for it.”
Coach Rhoads spoke about the girls and how close they are as a team.
“They stayed together not only as a team, but they’re family,” she said. “These girls hang together, they work together, they cheered together. That was our big thing right there. They kept their spirits up. They kept cheering, and they kept going and kept going.”
Wilson is the lone senior on the team for the Lady Indians, as she has seen the ups and downs of the program and felt the heartbreak of not reaching the state tournament after very successful regular seasons. Wilson, who is battling an injury, said she’ll be ready to bowl at state this weekend and is ready for the challenge.
“I actually just did this (injury) on Sunday, but we are going to be bowling by Friday. I’m just going to take it (a boot) off and wrap it up. I’m just going to do it, just going to go with it,” Wilson said. “This season has actually been pretty good. My average hasn’t been as high, but I’ve also changed a lot of things about the way I’ve bowled, so it has had an effect on my average.”
Wilson, who has been bowling since the age of 4, has been a member of the Hillsboro team all four years of high school and spoke about how exciting this season has been.
“To finally make it to state after being so close – it’s life-changing, almost. I never thought we would make it, but we worked together as a team and made it. It made it super special,” she said. “I’m looking forward to coming together as a team and doing team bonding. We’ll have practice the night before, and we can work as a team better once we come together. I feel like at the hotel and stuff, we’ll come together more.”
Hughes — a junior — said making state was an amazing feeling, especially after not qualifying last season.
“We tried so hard last year, and it would have meant so much for our seniors last year who graduated, but I’m just glad we got to give Olivia the chance to go out with a bang her senior year. We’re all so excited and pumped for it,” Hughes said. “It means a lot to me because I don’t see this as a team, I see them as a family to me. We’re all so close, and we’ve worked so hard all year long to overcome different obstacles, like injuries and everything. It means a lot that we finally have made it to state.”
Hughes has been bowling her freshman year and said she’d never really played the sport before at a competitive level.
“Our coach’s son, Hayden, is in my grade, and he told me I should bowl because I play softball, so I have to have an arm and have hand-eye coordination, so I should do it,” she said. “Well, I wasn’t sure about it, and then he got my friend Breanna to do it, so then I came with her, and then Coach Miller had me try out anyway, just to see. I ended up making varsity, and I went from bowling not even 100 to bowling 200 games. I was shocked and impressed about how much competition and how much there is.”
Hughes also spoke about improving her bowling game and learning the technical aspects of the sport.
“Hooking the ball is something I never thought I would be able to do – I always saw people out here spin the ball, where it comes out of the gutter and comes straight back,” she said. “My freshman year when I saw people doing that, I was like ‘holy crap, how do they do that?’ When I was finally able to get it down and was able to change – there’s a lot of discipline going into it. I practice a good bit during the summer. I have 4-H goats and livestock going on and softball, but I try to come in here (to the bowling alley) once a week at least. Other times, I came in more, but it just fluctuated between work and everything. But the more you do it, the better it is.”
Little is a junior for Hillsboro and has been a member of the Lady Indians for the past three years, and she spoke about what making state was like for her and her start as a bowler as well.
“It’s absolutely amazing. I’m really happy that we have two really good freshmen on our team who are varsity starters and are able to help us go over this hump. We were all crying. We were so excited,” she said of making state.
Little talked about how she became involved with the team.
“It’s a funny story,” she said. “(Coach) Miller’s son Hayden, he told me to come to practice and come to the tryouts. I didn’t want to. I didn’t want any part of bowling. I came to the last day of tryouts, and I fell in love with it, and I’ve been in love with bowling ever since. The team in general is just amazing, and I’ve never had a connection with a coach and a sport like I have with bowling. Bowling’s something different from most physical sports, too, which I really love.”
Little also talked about the work that goes into making state and her thoughts before the tournament.
“We have put a lot of time and practice and a lot of hard work into practicing, and winning sectionals and getting ready for districts, we were pretty confident (we could make state).
“It’s really nerve-wracking, but we’re all trying to be there for each other and really being confident and helping each other out. I’m really excited for that, just being with the team and being a part of something really special.”
Mingua is a sophomore for the Lady Indians, and she’s now bowled two years with the program, but she began bowling at a very young age as well.
“This is my second year on the team. I first started bowling when I was about 5 years old,” she said. “I grew up bowling at Georgetown, but recently, the age after 5, my parents started bowling here and it just went on from there. I started bowling, and I started liking it, so as I continued to bowl, I started loving it. Since I was younger, coming to the high school bowling team has always been one of my goals.
“The moment we made state was very exciting. I’m proud of these girls personally and also proud of myself. It was a very happy moment.”
Mingua also talked about her bowling habits throughout the year.
“I bowl year-round,” she said. “I come in here during the summer and practice, during the winter I practice – I just practice and practice. One thing I like most about the sport is the girls kind of feel like my support group. If I’m having a bad day, they make it better, and the teamsmanship we have is just awesome.
“This weekend, I am mostly looking forward to all of our competition that we have. Our competition pushes us to work harder and to do better. That’s something that I think that we need.”
Then there are the two freshmen starters in Jordan and Tomko, whom their teammates and coaches have basically described as game-changers.
“It’s really exciting. At the beginning, I kind of wasn’t expecting us to make it, until now that we actually are. I think it’s really amazing. With the team that we have been together throughout this year and improving so much, we’re doing great,” Jordan said, who has been bowling since she was around 5 years old. “It was amazing because we kept our heads up and didn’t get down on ourselves. We had a positive mind.”
Tomko also spoke about her first season bowling for the varsity Lady Indians, qualifying for state and her start in the sport.
“It’s exciting. It definitely helped build my confidence a lot, just being part of this team with good coaches, good teammates. It’s good experience to have my first year,” Tomko said. “It’s definitely going to be a different experience for me (bowling at state). I’ve never been to anything like this. I’ve been to multiple tournaments, but I think this is just going to be something completely different. I’m excited and looking forward to having the experience and doing it with my team.
“One of my friends’ moms got me into it. I started bowling in a league last year, and then I decided to come and try out because I enjoyed the sport. I think it’s a lot of just the team bonding – you get to spend so much time with your teammates, and when you struggle, your teammates are there to pick you back up. It’s nice because bowling is kind of a small team. You don’t have so many people, and you get to have those personal bonds with each other.”
As the team worked to get to the state tournament, Coach Miller said he realized the moment this team was special came in a match held at Highland Lanes.
“On our senior night, our girls actually beat every other team we were facing that evening, including every varsity boys team (except for the HHS Indians) by about 150 pins. Our boys obviously beat everybody by more than that, but our girls beat every other varsity boys team,” Miller said. “What can you say? They didn’t waver (at districts). They kept the hammer down all day, all season, all postseason – they’ve not wavered once. I don’t see them stepping off that plate when it comes to Friday. They’re fantastic.
“Throughout this year, our averages are pretty strong, Selena being our highest average. We have had teams that have averaged, as a team, a little bit stronger, but not with the chemistry these ladies have. That’s where a lot of boils down to – team chemistry and whether or not you can step up and make the shot when you have to. That’s where this team has stepped up where the other teams have not.”
Just making state was a goal of the Lady Indians, but now they have even higher aspirations as they’ve put in a lot of practice and hard work to get where they are.
“The coachability of these girls is very important,” Miller said. “A lot of our kids bowl throughout the summer. They bowl year-round to be able to keep themselves prepared for the season. They get into habits where we have to come in and break them, and they get a bit stubborn at times, and it’s the stubbornness that’s the hardest thing to break – getting them listening, and the only thing that makes them comply with what we’re doing is when they see what we’re telling them to give them success.
“When they see the success, then they’ll stick with it, but if it doesn’t work out right away for them, they’re creatures of habit and will go back to what works. That’s where we really have to kind of get on them.”
Miller said that they have looked at the field at this year’s state tournament, and the girls are ready to “make a statement.”
“I’ve researched a lot of our competition,” he said. “Out of 16 teams there, they’re going to be in the top eight of them for sure. As long as they bowl the way they should, we should have no problem making the cut to the championship round.
“There’s a couple schools that are concerning, a couple schools that can bowl, but we’re not going to look past anybody. We’re going to go out there from game one and do our best to make a statement. We’re going to go up for the practice session the day before, and we’re going to make quick adjustments on the state pattern as we need to right there on the lanes so we can get the girls the best look we can.”
All of the bowlers expressed thanks to their coaches, family, friends and teammates for all of their support in their path to the state tournament.