Spain Park wins boys bowling South Regional; Oak Mountain, Thompson advance to state.
Published on Saturday, January 20, 2024 at 1:00 a.m.
- Spain Park heads into the boys bowling state championship as South Region champions on a day when the Oak Mountain girls bowling team and the Thompson boys and girls bowling teams punch their ticket to Mobile. (contribution)
Andrew Simonson Sports Editor
Vestavia Hills – The Spain Park Jaguars have made impressive appearances in the Boys Class 6A-7A State Bowling Championships along with the Southern Regional Championships.
On Friday, January 19th, they defeated the Stanhope Elmore Mustangs in a thriller best-of-seven tiebreaker game at Vestavia Bowl to win the title.
The Jags will join the Oak Mountain Eagles girls bowling team and the Thompson Warriors boys and girls bowling teams in the 6A-7A championships to be held Feb. 1 and 2 at Bowlero Mobile.
Spain Park’s team of Luke Eaton, Evan Kelly, Ray Olatubi, Caleb Mason, Michael Kimble, Connor Shamblin, Zion Mims and Griffin Mikos will be in the team bracket against Spain’s Fort Toros. They qualified for state in the first round in overwhelming fashion.
The Jags won Game 1 179-143, Game 2 162-153, Game 3 209-148, Game 4 203-144, and won the best-of-seven series. They won an overwhelming 4-0. Clinching the series and earning state status.
While Spain Park earns a ticket to Mobile, Thompson defeats the Baker Hornets in the first round thanks to performances from Max Woodall, Zachary LaRussa, Ryan Lloyd, Xander Adelberg and Kellen McNutt, clinching the boys state championship. Obtained the right to participate. , Joshua Priolelow, Andrew Giles, AJ Todd.
The Warriors won Game 1, 160-137, and Game 2, 212-165. From there, Thompson won Game 3 176-140 and Game 4 192-138 for a 4-0 series victory and solidified their spot in the top four, which is necessary for a spot in the state tournament.
The Jags and Warriors will now meet in the regional semifinals for a championship berth.
Spain Park got off to a strong start with the best score of the day, winning the first game 243-205. The Jags then won Game 2, 203-202, to take a 2-0 lead.
As a result, they comfortably won Game 3, 209-191, and took a commanding 3-0 lead in the series.
Thompson won Game 4 203-185 to avoid a sweep, but Spain Park rallied in Game 5 to win 191-145, take the series 3-1 and advance to the regional final.
This began a back-and-forth battle with Stanhope Elmore for the championship and the No. 1 seed for the state championship.
The Mustangs took the lead in Game 1, 180-172, but the Jags won 179-145, tying the series at 1-1.
Spain Park then won Game 3, 190-123, but Stanhope Elmore closed out the game with a 172-159 victory in Game 4.
The Mustangs then cornered the Jags with a 204-179 win in Game 5.
They needed to win their final two games to win the region, and Spain Park did just that thanks to two scores over 200 points.
The Jags won Game 6 206-156 and Game 7 210-158, clinching the championship and the top seed.
In the girls regional tournament, Oak Mountain and Thompson will also travel to Mobile to compete for the state title.
Thompson defeated Dothan 4-0 in the first round to qualify. The Warriors won Game 1 198-108 and Game 2 150-97.
Thompson then won a close third game, 128-113, and dominated the fourth game, 193-87, clinching the state championship.
Oak Mountain’s team of Emma Hawkins, Jenna Burson, Anna DuBose, Molly O’Dell, Lauren Schuessler, Grace Smith and Mabry Whitehead went 4-4 in the first round against the Auburn Tigers. They won 0 and joined the Warriors to advance.
The Eagles won the first game in a close game 131-122, and then won the second game by a large margin to lead the series 2-0.
Oak Mountain withstood a high-pressure Game 3 to win 148-145 and then won Game 4, 131-116, to advance to state.
The Eagles then faced Thompson in the semifinals for crucial seeding.
Oak Mountain got off to a strong start, winning Game 1 191-161 and Game 2 142-136 to take an early 2-0 lead in the series.
However, from then on, it was all a victory for the Warriors, winning Game 3 197-163, winning Game 4 147-136 to tie the series, and winning Game 5 142-101 to take the series lead. The game ended 147-147. 122 wins in Game 6.
Thompson lost 4-0 to Stanhope Elmore in the regional championship, but the efforts of Olivia Harmon, Amil Smith, Sophie Leonard, Emma Roberson, Ella Walker and Kathryn earned them the second seed from the South Region. As a result, we will move on to mobile. Burchard, Isabella Black, and Ashley Lozano.