Alma, Swan Valley Rise, Surprise in D3
March 4, 2016
By Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half
JACKSON – The Alma girls and Saginaw Swan Valley boys teams had plenty in common Friday when each won its first MHSAA Division 3 championship in bowling at Airport Lanes.
Each was making its first appearance in an MHSAA Final since 2008, and neither came in as a strong favorite to contend. Swan Valley, in fact, had the lowest Regional score of any team that qualified for the Division 3 boys meet.
Alma, a Regional champion, had to overcome a poor start in its first Baker game (five players from each team bowl two frames apiece in a single game) to edge Hudsonville Unity Christian by 20 pins, 1,282-1,262. Unity Christian won the first Baker game 222-145, and Alma cut the deficit to 43 pins entering the final match – a Peterson match that features a full game by each of the five players.
“We always struggle a little bit in our Bakers, and our strong part is our Peterson games,” Alma coach Ken Shunk said.
Alma and Unity Christian each missed nine non-split spares in the Peterson game. However, Alma struck 28 times to 21 strikes by Unity Christian, and that helped Alma wipe out the 43-pin deficit. The outcome was not decided until the 10th frame, and when anchor bowler Kemmie Shunk stepped on the lane, she needed just a solid count on her first ball to wrap up the championship.
“I was pretty nervous,” said Shunk, who left the 2-8 spare and converted it. “I usually do pretty good under pressure and keep my composure. I just took a deep breath and made a shot, but the pressure was unreal. It was nothing like I’ve ever been under before.”
Shunk, a sophomore who shot in the 230s in the semifinal match, had 198 in the Peterson game as four of the five Alma players topped 190. Senior Susan Schultz led Alma with 209. She threw five strikes in a row from the seventh frame through the first two in the 10th, and that five- bagger proved to be a deciding factor.
Schultz, one of two seniors on the team, had three open frames in her previous four and had a score of 91 through six frames.
“I had to get myself back on track, and we needed it,” she said. “I made an adjustment, moved a couple of boards and got everything lined up right and did what I had to do.
“I was a little nervous because it was really close, but it worked out.”
Freshman Hallie Weaver added 203 in the Peterson game, while Sarah Gadde, another freshman, had 194. Gadde tossed a 234 in the Peterson game in the semifinals as Alma totaled 982 to overcome a 50-pin deficit against Coloma after the two Baker games for a 1,285-1,179 victory.
Gadde offered an explanation as to why Alma performs better in Peterson games than in Baker games.
“It’s more on you, so if you get down, you have to pick it back up, and your teammates help you,” she said.
Morgan Johnson and Aaliyah Wilson shared the other spot in the Peterson game, and Brittney LaCross, the only other senior on the team, took part in the Baker games.
Alma, which qualified fourth, defeated Birch Run 1,144-1,133 in the quarterfinals after trailing by eight after the two Baker games.
“We shot in the 900s all day,” Coach Shunk said. “We just stayed consistent other than struggling in our Baker games. We’ve been working hard all year, and they were able to adjust and do well.”
The Swan Valley boys did not have to use the come-from-behind magic like Alma, but the Vikings still were involved in plenty of drama in the championship match.
Swan Valley defeated Croswell-Lexington by 43 in the quarterfinals, then used a huge 278 Baker game to rout Wyoming Kelloggsville by 107 in the semifinals, setting up a title match against Battle Creek Pennfield.
Swan Valley won the first Baker game by 12 and lost the second by 10, giving the Vikings a slim two-pin lead going into the Peterson game.
“I just told the boys, ‘Winner take all, just cover our spares. As long as we cover our spares, we can’t lose,’” Swan Valley coach Tony Bremer said. “We covered just a few more pins than they did.”
Swan Valley won the Peterson game 880-820, but Bremer was forced to make a tough decision halfway through the match when he pulled four-year senior Josh Goushaw, who had missed spares in four of the first six frames.
“To pull a senior, that was tough,” Bremer said, “but I did it for the good of the team, and he understood the move.”
Goushaw was all smiles after the match and actually praised Bremer for the move.
“If you’re going bad, you should get pulled,” he said. “I’m perfectly fine getting pulled. I was bowling pretty bad, and it turned out incredible.
“I’m so happy right now, it’s fantastic.”
Jay Schimmoller, a senior who replaced Goushaw, threw five strikes in a row and then a 9 count to turn a score of 72 through six frames into a 191.
The Vikings were led by their anchor, Mason Eddy, a freshman who averaged 215 this season. Eddy had the lone 200 of the Peterson game – a 212 – to lead Swan Valley.
“After we qualified, there was no oil outside, and the lanes were hooking more, so I just moved right,” Eddy said. “I had the same shot all day, and I really wasn’t nervous. I don’t get nervous.”
Sophomore Noah Conley added 186 for Swan Valley, while senior Jarrett Thomas had 149 and sophomore Logan Lemmer 142.
“It got harder as it went along,” Conley said. “The more and more we bowled, I got more nervous.
“My thought was to not open and to take advantage of every open the other team makes.”
Swan Valley was just short of making the top eight after the eight Baker games but had Peterson games of 979 and 917 to jump to the No. 2 seed entering match play.
“There were a lot of bumps in the road,” Bremer said. “Our first eight Bakers in qualifying weren’t so good, but we finished the last two 188 and 214.
“I always thought this team was better than the team that made the states in 2008. The way we bowled at Regionals, we barely qualified for third, and we were the lowest qualifying team that made it to states.
“When we got here, Mason Eddy just kept saying, ‘We’re top eight’ all day, and we got in. Then, in our first quarterfinal match we came out with 278-209 in our Bakers, and from there I knew it was ours.”
Click for full boys results and girls results.
PHOTOS: (Top) Alma’s girls bowling team. (Middle) Swan Valley’s boys bowling team. (Photos by Chip Mundy.)
Standish-Sterling Proves Again that 'Everyone Loves a Comeback Story'
By
Jeff Bleiler
Special for MHSAA.com
February 28, 2025
JACKSON — A match for the ages deserved a finish like the one witnessed by bowling fans at JAX 60 on Friday.
And the Standish-Sterling and Croswell-Lexington high school bowling teams delivered.
Needing a mark in the 10th frame of the deciding fifth game of the Finals championship, Standish-Sterling senior Zach Bell stared down the 4-pin and toppled it, sending his team and its fans into a frenzy that only happens during a come-from-behind Finals victory. It was also the school’s first Finals trophy in bowling.
Bell’s mark completed a comeback in the game and the match as Standish-Sterling won the first 197-174, lost the next two 220-198 and 246-213, and won the final two 191-138 and 175-168 in the best-of-five match.
“It’s huge. I knew we could do it all year; it’s just a matter of getting it done,” said coach Shayne Leamon, in his 15th season at Standish-Sterling.
Getting it done has been an issue for Bell in the past, but not Friday. Bell, whose nickname since he was 2 is Zoomer — known to the point it’s stitched on the back of his jersey instead of Zach — had no open frames during the final match.
“It’s great being out here. I was nervous especially coming down to the wire and the 10th frame,” he said. “You can’t get enough of the show. All the spectators loved it, everyone loves a comeback story. We were down 2-1, and we came back and won it all. It’s great. This team’s amazing.”
Bell might have fellow senior Kyler Cook to thank. Cook, an individual Finals qualifier all four years as a Panther, threw nine of 10 strikes during the five-game championship.
Bell, Cook and Quinten Leamon represent the team’s triumvirate of seniors and the heart of the program. They were freshmen in 2022 the last time the Panthers made the Finals when they lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Gladwin. Quinten’s brother, Donovan, was a senior on that team.
“It’s nothing like I’ve ever felt before,” Cook said. “We came close my freshman year, and this year we were able to get the job done.”
The Panthers qualified fifth out the 16 with a total of 3,260 for the eight Baker games and two team games. They went the distance in a five-game quarterfinal victory over last year’s runner-up Milan.
Standish-Sterling lost the first game in the semifinal against top seed Blissfield before storming back to take the next three and set up the championship.
Croswell-Lexington earned the third seed at 3,339 and had a relatively stress-free route to the final. The Pioneers lost only one game in sidelining Gladwin and Midland Bullock Creek to reach the championship.
They gave the Panthers all they wanted in the first three games, especially the third when they had eight strikes including a five-bagger and appeared in firm control of the match. After an open-filled fourth game, the Pioneers responded by taking a 20-pin lead in the sixth frame of the fifth game.
Anchor bowler Joshua Gunderson, a sophomore who was unflappable throughout the day, struck on his first shot of the 10th then left the 4-6-7-10 split.
“I couldn’t be any more proud of these guys,” said Colton Burns, one of three coaches on the Pioneers staff. “Very, very young team, so very proud. We’re not losing anyone this year, so we’ll be back hopefully. Just gotta keep their spirits up.”
Gunderson, who shot 1,489 to win his individual Regional last week, will be joined in the individual Finals on Saturday by teammates Carter Ramage, a junior, and Brady Burns, a sophomore.
Blissfield was the qualifying leader by 141 pins over Muskegon Oakridge and swept Wyoming Kelloggsville before losing to Standish-Sterling. Oakridge fell to Bullock Creek 3-1 in the quarterfinals.