Vandercook Lake Rolls to D4 Sweep
March 3, 2017
By Dick Hoekstra
Special for Second Half
LANSING – One was for the first time and the other for a sixth.
But the Vandercook Lake boys and girls bowling teams swept the Division 4 team championships Friday at Royal Scot Lanes.
The Jayhawks boys earned the school’s first MHSAA Finals title by keeping Sandusky from repeating as champion, 1501-1367.
The Vandercook Lake girls team captured its sixth title by keeping St. Louis from claiming its second crown in three years, 1233-1167.
The Jayhawks girls also earned MHSAA titles in 2011, 2013 and 2014 in Division 4 as well as 2009 in Division 3 and 2005 in Class C-D.
“We got a couple breaks where they didn’t in the Baker games,” said Vandercook Lake girls bowling coach Todd Reichard, whose team pulled ahead by 69 pins with 177-159 and 188-137 Baker game wins. “Then we just stayed steady with them. We tried to fill frames. It was two good teams. We just got lucky in the Bakers.”
Senior captain Ariel Robinson rolled a 211 and sophomore Mackenzie Johnson a 202 in the Final for the Jayhawks, who were seeded No. 1 after qualifying and defeated No. 8 Dryden and then No. 5 Rogers City 1239-1166 to reach the championship match.
“These young ladies just refuse to lose,” Reichard said. “I lost four seniors last year. I knew I had a lot of work with a new group this year. This is number six for me, and I tried to do it with depth, because I didn’t have a superstar. Mackenzie (sophomore and individual Regional champion Mackenzie Johnson) might be my best bowler, but everybody chipped in today. I’m still amazed how we got here.”
St. Louis emerged as the No. 2 seed after morning qualifying before defeating No. 7 seed Traverse City Christian and then No. 3 seed Schoolcraft.
The Sharks actually edged Vandercook Lake 871-868 in pins over the Peterson games as senior Emily Thelen threw a 231.
“We just had a lot of bad breaks with some nasty splits in the Baker games, and that’s what came back and got us,” St. Louis girls bowling coach Brittney Mizer said. “The girls didn’t bowl bad. They should be super proud of how they did. I know I am.”
The No. 2-seeded Sandusky boys after morning qualifying were trying to become the first repeat champion in Division 4, and seemed poised after edging No. 3 seed St. Charles 1356-1343 in a Semifinal that was a rematch of last year’s championship match.
But Vandercook Lake topped No. 4 Rogers City 1324-1127 in the other Semifinal, and then became the eighth new champion in the eight years a Division 4 tournament has been held. (There were only three divisions from 2006-2009 and just two in 2004 and 2005.)
“We bowled really well in the St. Charles match, and it felt like a state final,” Sandusky boys bowling coach Del Shea said. “It was pretty exciting. I’ve been coaching 12 years, and I don’t remember anybody defending. That’s what we were trying to do. We almost got there.”
The Redskins fired a 254 to Vandercook Lake’s 192 in the first Baker game, but the Jayhawks answered with a 290 to Sandusky’s 160 in the second Baker game to take a 68-pin lead.
“We came back, and we were only 20 pins down in the middle of that (Peterson) game,” Shea said. “We almost got it back, but we ran out of steam. Everybody bowled really well, especially our seniors Brandon Hughes, Jared Jagotka, Cody Johnston.”
Vandercook Lake boys bowling coach Libie Ambs said the Jayhawks also had to come from behind in their Semifinal with Rogers City.
“But the match with Sandusky was the toughest,” she said. “Korey Reichard bowled well all day. He shot 257 the last game. All of them bowled well. Everybody at least had one game over deuce (200).”
Ambs’ first year coaching the Jayhawks boys was 2009, when they finished as runners-up in Division 3.
“Last year, we got knocked out in the Semifinals,” she said. “This year they kind of had a mission. Korey kept them pumped after every shot, and kept them going.”
Click for full girls results and boys results.
PHOTO: The Vandercook Lake girls and boys teams stand together after sweeping the Division 4 championships at Lansing’s Royal Scot.
No More 'Just Misses' for D2 Champions
March 1, 2014
By Sarah Jaeger
Special to Second Half
WATERFORD – What a difference a year makes.
After the 2013 Division 2 Singles Finals, Alex Ouellette from Bay City John Glenn left Century Lanes after coming in second place, vowing to return and win it all.
Fast forward to Saturday, and Ouellette is the 2014 boys champion.
"I knew if I stayed slow and made good shots, I could beat anyone and that's all I had to do," Ouellette said.
The senior cruised through the morning block, even shooting a 300 in the fourth game, and qualified first with a score of 1,463.
"I kind of didn't realize I had the front 8 because I was focused on being consistent and making good shots," Ouellette said. "Then it just came down to the 10th frame, and it was just three more strikes."
"He never really struggled throughout the day," Bay City John Glenn coach Craig Block said. "After those first couple matches when we got up there and shot the 300, I'm sure he felt on top of the world because I did."
In the first round of match play, Ouellette edged junior Anthony Kelley of Flint Kearsley by just five pins. But it was smooth sailing as Ouellette then went on to beat sophomore Chad Stephen of Kearsley in the Quarterfinal and junior Cody Wilkins in the Semifinal.
However, Warren Fitzgerald senior Alec Nunn was waiting for him in the Final to settle a score from 2013.
"He beat me out last year, and I wanted to get another chance at him again," said Nunn of his loss to Ouellette in the previous year's Round of 16. "Runner-up doesn't feel too bad, but I wanted another shot at him."
While each bowler has his unique style and form, Nunn has an uncommon approach, throwing right-handed and sliding on his right foot.
"I asked him when he first started, ‘Do you want to change?’" Warren Fitzgerald coach Rick Schultz said. "He said no, so we just worked with what he had and everything has worked out fine for Alec."
Ouellette got out to an early lead with a 248 to Nunn's 177 in the first game. Even though the second game margin was only two pins, Ouellette had too big of a lead and won his school's second singles title with a match score of 479-410.
While both boys finalists were looking for redemptions on the lanes this year, they were not the only ones.
Tecumseh senior Lauren McKowen missed making it into last year's Finals by one pin and had to watch as teammate Jordan Richard won her second straight singles championship.
But instead of setting her sites on the top prize like Ouellette, McKowen decided to take it one step at a time.
"I just wanted to take it day by day, senior year try and make it your best and that's what happened,” McKowen said.
She placed fourth in the Saturday morning qualifying block and proceeded to beat senior Alysha Sobeck of Gaylord and senior Katelynn Maxwell of Flint Kearsley in the bracket.
McKowen had to beat Richard in the semi to get in the Final. After the first of two games, only two pins separated the teammates. But in the end, McKowen was able to pull out the win 481-431.
"I am the one coach that's not shy about saying I hate singles, and it's for that reason," said Ken Richard, one of Tecumseh's coaches and Jordan's father. "It's tougher for me than most coaches because one was my daughter. But you know the girls have grown up together inside a bowling alley. This wasn't their first head-to-head match, and Lauren came out on top."
With McKowen hoping to become the fourth individual singles champion for the girls in school history, she still had to face Samantha Knight, a senior from Richland Gull Lake, a team in only its fourth year having a bowling program.
"I never really thought when I started my freshman year with our small teams that four years later I'd be here," Knight said.
Knight qualified in the 11th position from the morning but wasn't going to let one bad game get her down.
"She bowled a 133, which just plummeted her scores down," said her coach and mother, Hilary Knight. "But she found her ball, found her line and just kept on going. I know that can really throw you one way or the other, but she managed to rebound."
"Fighting in a lower seed is kind of fun," Samantha Knight added. "You're kind of an underdog."
The "underdog" took the edge in the first game and won 177-174. However, McKowen came back with a 214 in the second to Knight’s 209 to win the match by three pins.
"I still can't believe," McKowen said after the match. "I just can't believe it's true right now.”
Click for full boys results and full girls results.
PHOTOS: The MHSAA Division 2 Finals boys and girls medalists.