CNE bowling squads strike early, often in SBAAC

Clermont Northeastern High School boys & girls bowling teams combine individual and team talents to place in top spots in Southern Buckeye Athletic & Academic Conference

By Dick Maloney  (Edited for publication by Chuck Gibson) 

CLERMONT COUNTY, OH (April 5, 2020) – Few sports combine individual and team talents in the way high school bowling does, and few programs do it as well as Clermont Northeastern High School

Since bowling became an official, sanctioned Southern Buckeye Athletic and Academic Conference sport two years ago, Rocket squads have dominated. The girls team has won 66 of 75 matches since 2017-2018, and the boys are 45-9 over the last two seasons. This season the girls 27-1 overall, sharing the SBAAC National Division regular season title (11-1 league record), the SBAAC postseason tournament and qualifying for the Division II district tournament by finishing second in the sectional.

 The boys team was 22-6 overall and 9-3 in the SBAAC National – second behind undefeated Georgetown. They also won the SBAAC postseason tournament and qualified for district by placing fourth at sectional.

In high school bowling, five-member teams roll two regular games and three baker games, where team members take turns (one player bowls the first and sixth frame, another the second and seventh frames, etc …). Tournament formats may vary, with individuals bowling three games.

Baker games often are the difference between winning and losing at the team level. Such was the case in the girls’ Jan. 16 match vs. Williamsburg. The Wildcats had defeated the Rockets three consecutive times dating to the 2018-2019 season, including a 2,145-2,029 victory Dec. 3. “In the rematch, CNE led by 90 pins after the two regulation games, 1,500-1,411, but Williamsburg cut the margin to 22 pins after the first baker game, which it won 166-98.”

“We bowled a terrible 98 (first baker) game,” coach Jeff Connor said. “During the second and third baker games the girls rallied and bowled a 256 and 200 game and beat Williamsburg overall by 201 pins.” That win forced a tie in the SBAAC National with the Wildcats.

Such matches also reinforce the importance of depth on a bowling team. Since all five bowlers’ scores count in the team total, consistency throughout the lineup, from first to fifth, is crucial. CNE’s top five girls were in the SBAAC’s top 24 overall in terms of two-game average.  Junior Michayla Eifert was second to Wilmington’s Ariel Comberger. Eifert averaged 172.4 in 24 league matches, with a high two-game series of 418 vs. Bethel-Tate Jan. 6 at Batavia Bowl. She set a CNE single-game record with a 245 Jan. 27 vs. Western Brown.

Eifert was also named SBAAC National Division Player of the Year – the second time she has earned that honor.

Senior Morgan Miller was 11^th, with a 157.7 average; junior Alyssa Ferguson 13^th (156.5); senior Elizabeth Lindsley 21^st (145.1 in 16 games) and senior Abigail Averwater 24^th (142.7 in nine games). Senior Destiny Sheanshang rolled 20 games, averaging 141.3. Seniors Tierra Tuneberg and Molly Stetson also rolled varsity games.

 CNE’s boys had six bowlers between 24^th and 47^th in the SBAAC, led by junior Jered Glancy (24^th, 183.5). Glancy set a CNE single-game record with a 290 in the season opener Nov. 21 vs. Felicity at Community Lanes and was high scorer at the Division II sectional tournament at Cherry Grove, with a three-game total of 618. The Rockets won the postseason tournament, the first time they defeated Georgetown in 2019-2020.

Clermont Northeastern’s girls bowling team placed second in Mariemont’s Division II Warrior Classic Christmas week. (Provided)