Back like you never left: Spain Park defeats Thompson in boys bowling to claim state title – Shelby County Reporter

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The Spain Park Jaguars defeated Thompson in the all-county final to win their second state title in three years in boys bowling, while both Oak Mountain and Thompson made headlines in the girls tournament. (Contributed/AHSAA)

Andrew Simonson Sports Editor

cell phone – After a year away from the top of the mountain, the Spain Park Jaguars are once again the Class 7A boys bowling state champions, defeating the Thompson Warriors 4-2 in an all-county matchup in the finals at Bowlero Mobile on Friday, February. It became. 2.

With the second state title in program history, the Jags capped off a 20-2 season, but the road to the second day of the AHSAA state championship was not easy.

Spain Park earned the No. 2 seed in the eight-team championship berth thanks to its individual performance on Thursday, Feb. 1, and advanced to the championship with a 4-3 victory over Hartselle-Sparkman.

Thompson heads to the championship game after the fourth-seeded Warriors survived a thrilling 4-3 game against Dothan in the quarterfinals and a shocking 4-0 win over undefeated Hewitt-Trussville in the semifinals. He took a dramatic path of his own.

After seven straight games for the Jags, they didn’t need a Game 7 to decide the winner against the Warriors, but it was still a hard-fought battle between the best bowling teams in the state.

Riding the momentum of a 225-192 victory in Game 7 against the Sparkmen in the semifinals, Spain Park surged into the championship match and took control in the early going.

The Jags won three of the opening four games to take a 3-1 lead in the series, then put the Warriors against the wall in Game 5.

Thompson remained calm and collected despite the pressure and faced Spain Park in Game 5. The Jags posted his 217, while the Warriors posted a 229 to crush their county rivals and keep their title hopes alive.

The pressure then shifted to Spain Park as the Jags looked to avoid missing out on the title after taking a 3-1 lead.

However, Spain Park remained determined and won the sixth game 177-157, regaining the championship.

The team win was the Jags’ second major honor in two days of games in Mobile, following senior Luke Eason’s individual win on Thursday, Feb. 1.

Eason bowled 172 in the first game, followed by 244 in the second round, and finished the day with 247 in the third game for a total score of 663, 63 points higher than the next best bowler. His second and third round scores were the best of any bowler in those games.

Thompson’s Kellen McNutt secured third place in the individual standings with a bowling score of 598, and the Jags’ Michael Kimble placed sixth with a total of 589.

The Warriors also had reason to celebrate as Ella Walker won the women’s individual event with 632 points.

She bowled the other bowlers’ best games in rounds 1 and 2 with 196 and 231 respectively, en route to the individual title. She ended the day with a 205 and won the title.

Thompson also had a pair of top-10 bowlers to help secure the second seed, with Emma Roberson fifth with 546 points and Sophie Leonard ninth with a total of 522 points.

For Oak Mountain, Emma Hawkins took first place in the individual competition, placing 13th with 509 points. Her teammate Grace Smith was just behind her in 14th place with 508 points.

The Eagles secured the No. 4 seed and had success on the second day with a close 4-2 victory over the Baker Hornets in the quarterfinals.

Oak Mountain took the first game 139-130 and won the second game by an even bigger margin, winning 166-126.

The Eagles won Game 3 125-117, putting them one win away from advancing to the semifinals. In Game 4, Baker got his first win of the day, winning 157-145.

However, that would be the Hornets’ only victory of the day.

Oak Mountain won Game 5 by a score of 156-145, securing the series victory and advancing to the quarterfinals.

Although the Eagles lost 4-0 to eventual champion Stanhope Elmore in the semifinals, they advanced to the semifinals and earned a spot among the top four girls bowling teams in Classes 6A-7A.

As for Thompson, his run came to a halt with a 4-2 loss to Hewitt-Trussville in the quarterfinals.

After falling behind 2-0 early in the series, the Warriors fought back with a resounding 231-158 victory in Game 3.

The teams traded Games 4 and 5, with Hewitt winning Game 4, 154-137, and Thompson surviving, winning Game 5, 179-144. The Huskies closed out the series with a 190-180 victory in Game 6 and advanced to the semifinals, where they lost 4-0 to the Sparkmen.