‘IT HELPS TO HAVE TALENT’
Inches matter in Lake Orion’s run to Oakland County Tournament title
The difference between winning and losing in sports is often measured in inches.
One inch to the right and the towering fly ball sails to the right instead of ticking the foul poll for a gamewinning home run in baseball.
One inch to the left and the buzzer-beating slap shot hits the goalpost instead of the back of the net in hockey.
Such was the case on Sunday in the semifinal round of match play of the Oakland County Girls Bowling Championship at Cherry Hill Lanes in Clarkston.
Lake Orion went on to win the tournament, defeating Farmington Hills Mercy, 342-301, in the two-game total pins title match.
However, long-time Lake Orion head coach Denny O’Neill pointed to a key frame in the semifinal round match with South Lyon.
Sophomore Paige Morris needed to convert a 1-2-4-10 spare, a shot needing precision to complete.
One-inch either way and the 10pin is left standing.
Why was that shot so important?
“We wound up beating South Lyon in total pins by one,” O’Neill said.
One-inch off and South Lyon plays for the team title against Mercy instead of the Dragons.
Lake Orion won that semifinal match, 349-348, setting the stage for the Dragons and Mercy in the title match.
The Dragons went on win the 15th annual county-wide tournament. South Lyon finished third, beating South Lyon East in the consolation match (386-318)
Qualifying consisted of three games of five bowlers and four baker games.
The top 10 games and series thrown in qualifying were awarded medals. The top 16 qualifying teams were seeded in bracket format where match play with two games of total pins determined which teams moved on.
Lake Orion came out of the qualifying round seeded fifth.
Prior to beating South Lyon and Mercy, the Dragons elimi
nated Madison Heights Bishop Foley in the opening round (338-234) and North Farmington (373279) in the quarterfinal round.
How did they do it?
“It helps to have talent,” O’Neill said in a phone interview. “We had one bowler roll the best game of the day (junior Ella Terenzi, 277), we had another bowl a top10 game (senior Faith Washington, 210, 10th) and three finish among the top 10 in total series (Terenzi, 626, second), junior Kalie Harris, 538, sixth and Washington, 530 eighth).
“It helps to have bowlers with a lot of skill,” O’Neill said. “We have the potential to do some good things. Winning the county should give the girls some confidence as we go into regionals in Lansing and the state tournament at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park.”
In addition to Terenzi, Harris, Washington and Morris, Tess Pero and Amber Gorski round out
Lake Orion’s team.
A number of other teams and individuals also stood out during Sunday’s tournament.
The best individual performance was turned in by South Lyon senior Ava Crumley, who rolled a three-game series of 706, 80 pins better than her closest competitor. Crumley registered scores of 266, 267 and 173,
Crumley was joined in the top 10 by teammate Suzie Beck (531, fifth).
Mercy also had two players finish in the top 10 with Abby Worley (594, fourth) and Claire Zahra (529, ninth).
Also earning individual medals were North Farmington’s Naomi Rogers (613, third); South Lyon East’s Jaida Van Amberg (538, seventh); Clarkston’s Madison Kortman (521, 10th).
In the team qualifying round, the schools advancing to match play in order were: South Lyon, Mercy, South Lyon East, North Farmington, Lake Orion, Waterford Kettering, Oxford, Farmington, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, Clarkston, Milford, Bishop Foley, Hazel Park, Waterford Mott, Lakeland and Royal Oak.