The Leslie varsity bowling teams faced the East Jackson Trojans at Suburban Lanes on Thursday and then competed in the Mel Wolf Invitational on Sunday.
The girls’ team improved its season record to 6-3 after defeatingEast Jackson. The teams were tied 15-15 after the head-to-head games and the Hawks earned the win by taking the two-game Baker rolloff, 157-120 and 145-101.
Junior Kayla Gorman rolled a pair of 161 games for a 322 set and junior Virginia Gilton had games of 167 and 147 for a 314 set.
Head Coach Larry Hook said, “This match was closer than it should have been. A couple of our girls really had rough games during regulation. However, during the rolloffs, we were able to regroup and everyone contributed to the sudden-death victory.”
The boys’ team was defeated by East Jackson 27-3 and is now 2-7 on the season. Freshman Jacob Stanley led the Hawks with games of 206 and 204 for a 410 set. Senior R.J. Hector had two 168 games for a 332 set. Sophomore Kaleb Weinstein had a 151 game.
On Sunday, the boys’ team finished thirteenth out of 15 teams with a total of 2,176 pins. Each team bowled two regular games and four Baker games. Northwest defeated Jonesville in the finals.
Sophomore Brendan Hook rolled games of 215 and 179 and finished in third place overall. Hook was also one of the five bowlers named to the All-Tournament Team.
“Brendan was punishing the pocket all day,” Hook said. “He had a lot of strikes, and was also covering his spares with great accuracy. I was really proud of him.”
Hector shot a 240 and a 151 for a 391 set and finished in fifth place and was named to the All-Tournament Team. The 240 game was the highest in the boys’ tournament.
Courtesy photo
Sophomore Brendan Hook (left) and senior R.J. Hector (right) were named to the All-Tournament Team at Sunday’s Mel Wolf Invitational at Airport Lanes.
Hook said, “R.J. came out on fire when the tournament started. He threw six straight strikes to start the first game.” Hook went on to say, “He was disappointed with his second game, but he still made the all-tournament team, which is a great feat for him.”
Leslie was the only team with two bowlers on the All-Tournament Team.
“This really was a great accomplishment for Blackhawk bowling, to have two of the top five bowlers in the prestigious Mel Wolf Tournament, which included about 100 area bowlers,” Hook said.
The girls’ team finished in sixth place out of twelve teams with a total of 2,201 pins. Vandercook Lake defeated Northwest to earn the girls’ championship.
Gorman finished tenth overall after rolling games of 203 and 180 for a 383 set.
Hook said, “Kayla throws soft, so it was surprising to see her throw so many strikes. She was deadly accurate all day.”
Senior Nickole Wixson had a 204 game and sophomore Tiffany Hills had games of 156 and 149.
“The Leslie girls bowled especially well in the Baker games, averaging 153 for four games,” Hook said.
Both teams will be in action again this afternoon when the Hawks host the Michigan Center Cardinals at Leslie Lanes at 3:30 p.m. On Thursday, Leslie will face Grass Lake at Chelsea Lanes and on Monday, February 4, the Hawks will have a rematch with Michigan Center at Summit Lanes.
