BOWLING: Catholic Central avenges Oakland County field; Novi girls win first crown
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BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
TROY — Could it be poetic justice at its finest?
Last year Novi Detroit Catholic Central grabbed the No.1 seed out of the qualifying block at the Oakland County Boys Bowling Championship only to fall via upset to 16th-seeded Farmington-Harrison Unified in the first round of bracket play.
Now in a deep field that featured four top 10 teams in Division 1, Catholic Central ventured all the way to the finals and faced — you guessed it — Farmington-Harrison Unified in the championship round Sunday at Thunderbird Lanes in Troy.
The 10th-ranked Shamrocks downed seventh-ranked Unified, 394-356, to win their second county crown in the 11-year history of the event.
“When you have the No. 1 seed and lose in the Round of 16 to a team…the boys definitely remembered (that loss),” said Catholic Central coach Al Bridges. “When I saw (Unified coach Dennis Hermani) before (bracket play), I said to him that ‘we will see you in the finals.’”
The Shamrocks, who won their first crown since 2006, gained their measure of revenge as the second seed. Coming out of the qualifying block with a 3,792 score, Catholic Central also defeated North Farmington (373-279) in the Round of 16, Waterford Kettering in the quarterfinals (350-337) and defending champion Troy in the semifinals 479-376) to set up the rematch with Farmington-Harrison Unified.
READY TO ROLL: Troy’s Tyler Giddy prepares to fire the ball down the lane at Sunday’s Oakland County Championships. Giddy and the Colts finished fourth overall. Photo | Larry McKee, www.lmckeephotography.com
After a slow start, the Shamrocks knocked down Unified by 38 pins.
“(Last year) they beat us by 50 or 60 pins,” said Catholic Central senior Joey “Coming into this championship match, it felt good to beat them. Obviously there is a rivalry. We’ve played them several times.”
Farmington-Harrison Unified defeated Clarkston (448-349) in the other semifinal, while Clarkston edged Troy (381-369) in the third-place match.
Sixth-ranked Oxford grabbed the No.1 seed out of the qualifying block with a 3,842 total. Catholic Central was second, while Troy (3,715), Walled Lake Northern (3,699), Ortonville Brandon (3,683), Berkley (3,631) Walled Lake Central (3,630), Clarkston (3,611), South Lyon (3,581), Waterford Kettering (3,555) and Royal Oak (3,491) rounded out the top 10 in the a field of 28 schools that brought full lineups.
“It’s always our ngoal to win, but we know, after last year, it doesn’t always work out the way you plan it,”said bridges.”I think this group was very focused today and doing well.”
In singles play held Sunday morning, Clarkston sophomore Jacob Kersten vaulted to the top with a high series total of 704.
“It feels great because I did not do well here last year,” said Kersten, who made some adjustments early in the day to catch fire. “When I first got here, I threw a couple of balls but they weren’t hitting the pocket. I just moved a little bit right, slowed by ball speed down, made transitions and made spares.”
Catholic Central’s Gerrit Hartwig was second at 794, 10 pins behind Kersten. Royal Oak’s Donnie Combs (686), South Lyon’s C.J. Hatton (678), Berkley’s Reno Max (678), Walled Lake Central’s Jonathon Bratton (671) and Matt Ulivi (671), Oxford’s Sean McKinney (662), Waterford Kettering’s Mike Latiemier (662) and Walled Lake Northern’s Todd Johnson (657) followed suit in the top 10 in a field of over 160 bowlers.
Ortonville Brandon’s Nick Udocon fired a 277 which finished as the high game of the tournament.
NOVI WINS FIRST COUNTY TITLE
CLARKSTON — Novi has never enjoyed much success at the Oakland County Girls Bowling Championships until Saturday.
The Wildcats rose to the top of the crop by dancing all the way to the finals of bracket play and downing Walled Lake Central, 377-364, to grab their first team title at Cherry Hill Lanes.
Novi, which grabbed the No. 5 seed heading out of the qualifying block, also defeated Birmingham Marian (299-293) in the Round of 16, Lake Orion (302-292) in the quarterfinals (302-292) and Farmington-Harrison Unified (358-317) in the semifinals.
Walled Lake Central rolled over defending champion holly in the other semifinal (357-276), while Holly knocked down Farmington-Harrison Unified in the third-place match (308-280).
Farmington-Harrison Unified grabbed the No. 1 seed in the qualifying block (3,752), while Walled Lake Central (3,454), Waterford Mott (3,436), Clarkston (3,327), Novi (3,238), Holly (3,200), South Lyon (3,085), Oxford (3,083), Waterford Kettering (3,056) and North Farmington (3,047) rounded out the top 10.
Kylie Hornsby of Walled Lake Central easily had the honor of top game with an impressive round of 287 in singles play.
Holly’s Heidi Martin was the individual medalist with a 682 series score on the day, Hornsby was 10 pins back in second at 672, while Farmington-Harrison Unified’s Elia Kearney (653), Walled Lake Central’s Ashley Bickel (650), Farmington-Harrison Unified’s Candyce Bradley (649), North Farmington’s Rae’ven Turner (643), Berkley’s Amyre Tensely (617), Holly’s Jessica Cooley (626), Farmington-Harrison Unified’s Dana Iles (605) and Novi’s Sara Schulz (599) rounded out the top 10.
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FOR MORE BOWLING COVERAGE: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Bowling&x=4&y=13
Have photos or video of this event that you wish to share? E-mail pertinent information to www.northoaklandsports.com Senior Editor Dan Stickradt at dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com or e-mail results@northoaklandsports.com.
Category: Auburn Hills Oakland Christian, Clarkston, Featured Articles, High School, High School (M-Z), Holly, Lake Orion, Ortonville Brandon, Oxford, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, Prep Wraps, Troy, Troy Athens
