Columbia, Schalmont advance to state tourney
SCHENECTADY — Two Columbia High girls will be returning to the state bowling championships next month. For Cierra Gabriel and Jennifer Doty, this time will be different.
Gabriel and Doty will be joined at states by their teammates after the Blue Devils won the Section II Class A championship for the first time since 2016, coach Lisa Johnas’ first season.
“I went last year for composite,” said Gabriel, referring to the six-player group that competes as individuals, “but this year it’s a lot better because I get to go with my team.”
“I’m really excited to go with the team,” said Doty, who competed as an individual in Syracuse the past two years.
The state tournament will be held March 8-10 at Strike ’n Spare Lanes in Syracuse.
Gabriel rolled an 1,195 (199.2 average) over six games, and Doty added 1,177 (196.2). Fellow senior Marissa Bogholtz posted 1,133 on an experienced Columbia team. Junior Alexis Gaudette finished at 1,162 as Columbia finished with a 5,743 total (191.4 per game per bowler).
While Columbia will compete with the large schools at states, Schalmont will be the section’s small-school representative for the second straight year after capturing the Class B crown. Middleburgh won in Class C/D, but Schalmont got the state bid because its six-game score of 5,222 (174.1 average per game per bowler) topped the Knights’ total of 4,624.
The state tournament was divided into two divisions beginning in 2018.
“I tried for years to do that, and finally Gary (Vanderzee, longtime Section II and state chairman)
got involved because he’s so popular with some other things,” Schalmont coach Hugo Mcgroty said. “He was also instrumental in helping us get that.”
Columbia’s sectional title was the school’s sixth since the tournament started in 1982.
The Blue Devils trailed two-time defending champion Mohonasen 2,879-2,826 at the halfway point but pulled away in the afternoon session. Schenectady passed Mohonasen for second at 5,580, 163 behind Columbia. Mohonasen was third with 5,476.
“We talked about making sure we were hitting our wood, because we were leaving a lot of pins out on the lanes,” Johnas said. “We stayed pretty consistent. We were about 938, 939 (per game) all the way along. We felt pretty good about that going into the afternoon because we don’t really go up and down a lot, we stay pretty consistent.”
Similarly, Schalmont trailed 1,680-1,644 after
two games in Class B before posting a momentum-changing 962 in Game 3. The Sabres finished 317 pins ahead of the Tigers.
“We bowled our best game in the third game,” Mcgroty said. “We had one girl (Brooke Howlan) increase from a 130 to a 230 that game. That was helpful, and the others were getting spares. That was what I kept trying to stress, spares today.”
Howlan led Schalmont with a 1,170 six-game total. Teagan Reckner added 1,065.
The top six scorers, regardless of classification, who aren’t members of Columbia or Schalmont will advance to states as part of the Section II composite teams. They are Elizabeth Wolf (1,240) of Schenectady, Cayla Schubmehl (1,236) of Catholic Central, Tiffany Persutti (1,205) of Queensbury, Savannah Swiatocha (1,203) of Scotia, Karissa Beehm (1,195) of Schenectady, and Teyah Mason (1,164) of Schoharie.