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Lady Tiger
Bowlers Impressive at the Kick Off Tournament in Columbus
On Saturday December 5th the Lady Tiger Bowlers drove to Columbus to
compete in the Kick Off Classic Tournament at Palace Lanes in Columbus,
OH. They were joined by 31 other teams to bowl in an invitation only
tournament with the other best teams in the state of Ohio. “This
tournament provides our girls with great experience and is always a
good time,” said Coach Phlipot. The younger Tiger teammates have never
been to a bowling alley that is full such as in a tournament like this.
If the Tigers can meet their goal and advance in tournament at the end
of the season they will see an environment like this again.
The bowlers competed as a team with a format of 3 regular games with 2
baker games followed by a cut to the top 16 and then became a best out
of 5 baker games match play. The Tigers bowled well to start with
a team score of 3,005 making them 6th out of the top 16 after the first
cut with scores of 850 game 1, 905 game 2 and 913 game 3, baker scores
where 169 and 168. The leading scores for the Tigers came from
Hannah Niekamp (223), Olivia Bruening (174, 183, 198), Maggie Hedrick
(193, 180), Brigette Holsapple (179), and Makenzie Berning (220, 203).
With Makenzie’s series of 573 she finished 15th overall as an
individual bowler.
After the cut the Tigers took on Troy, OH in match play baker format
where they came back from a 0-2 deficit to defeat the Trojans
3-2. Scores were: 182(V)-185(T), 152(V)-201(T), 182(V)-141(T),
190(V)-177(T), and 162(V)-160(T). The girls worked well together
in baker play. Freshman, Morgan Heitkamp was able to step in when
needed in the final 3 baker games and helped obtain the victory. “Team
strategy changes when you are bowling in a big tournament like the Kick
Off Classic. The goal is to allow the 5 girls who are jiving together
the best to stay on the lanes. I told some of the younger girls at the
beginning of the day what to expect and this included the possibility
for one of them to step in if needed. All of the girls who came
along had the ability to compete well. As the lanes change throughout
the tournament sometimes there is an opportunity for another bowler to
step in and do well, Morgan did this for us today,” said Coach Phlipot.
“Hannah Niekamp also came to compete and executed on 2 big shots in the
10th frame for the Tigers.”
In the next round the Tigers were defeated by Mechanicsburg 3-0.
“We just were not able to throw as many strikes in a row as the
Indians. We had a good spare game but the number of strikes
Mechanicsburg threw were too much for us to get the win,” said Coach
Phlipot. The lady bowlers would finish the tournament in 6th
place. “I was proud of the girls and we had a lot of fun. It is
nice to watch a team in bowling when they start coming together and
working as a unit. I have very high hopes for us throughout this
season”, said Coach Phlipot
The girls compete on Saturday December 12th at Speedway Lanes in New
Bremen, OH against the Marion Local Flyers.
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