It truly was the perfect week for the Garfield G-Men girls’ bowling team. After snagging a team berth in the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division II district tournament and wrapping up a perfect conference record, the G-Men took first place at the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference tournament by bowling a 3268 last Friday at the Skylane Bowling Alley in Garrettsville.
“They were locked in-especially since we wrapped up a perfect season the other day-so they are still sort of flying high being 18-0,” said girls’ Coach Joe Brigham. “They were pretty bummed missing out on the MVAC the last couple of years.”
Garfield will attempt to extend their season another week when they compete for a state team berth at the Division II district tournament at the Roseland Lanes in Oakwood on Saturday at 10 a.m.
Sophomore Sierra Foy paced the G-Men by knocking down 551 pins, followed by junior Makenna Guyette who bowled a 546. Haley Thompson recorded a score of 513, sophomore Joy Justice bowled a 496 and junior Alexis Phillips knocked down 441 pins.
According to the 24-year coach, missing out on the MVAC championship last year had been a bitter pill for his team to swallow especially since nobody graduated from last year’s squad. That motivation served them well as they dominated the league to post a perfect conference record for the first time since joining the MVAC and finished the job with a dominating victory at the tournament.
On Friday, after a strong first game where the G-Men bowled a combined 894, they held a commanding 229-pin lead over second place LaBrae.
Brigham acknowledged that the strong first game sent a message to his squad that it was their tournament to lose, and they continued to hum, increasing the lead to over 400 pins after the second game.
“Once you get off to a good start, it snowballs for you,” he added. When you get off to a bad start you are playing catch-up the whole time; once you get off to a good start, it snowballs for you.”
Despite being one of the team’s leading scorers this season, it was a challenging day for Justice but the G-Men’s depth was demonstrated with Foy propelling the team and Guyette having a career day, bowling 100 pins well over her season average.
“That is what you hope for,” Brigham noted. “You don’t want to rely on one kid and put all of the pressure on one kid. You want to spread it out and have some other kids to help her out so she does not feel like she has to.”
On the other side, the Garfield G-Men boys’ bowling team wrapped up their season by coming in fourth place with a team score of 3651 pins on Monday at the Skylane Bowling Alley.
“They did pretty well,” said boys’ Coach Howard Moore. “We are kind of in a rebuilding structure. I have four bowlers and four kids that throw the ball so I am starting from scratch with some of these kids.”
Senior Daniel Mcie led the G-Men by knocking down 655 pins, followed by senior Brody Justice who scored 617, senior Jayden Saylor bowled 527, sophomore Parker Broadwater bowled 520 and senior Jordan Portman scored 478.
The G-Men started strong by sitting in first place after the first game, bowling a 1025. They were fueled by a stellar start by senior Mcie, who threw nine consecutive strikes in the first game with a chance to bowl a perfect game but ultimately finished with a score of 279.
Mcie finished as the runner-up in individual scoring for the tournament.
“He turned it up a notch on Monday,” said the 24-year coach. “That is the best he bowled all year. I have known him forever and have been teaching him how to bowl since he was born.”
After a strong start, Moore acknowledged the G-Men’s lead faded in the next two games and their struggles were compounded by missing 11 one-pin spares. After the first three games, the G-Men sat in fourth place so Moore decided to use his bench for the five-game Baker series, with the bench bowlers competing in the second, third and fourth games. It was in the second and fourth games when Garfield posted its two top scores, bowling a 202 and 206 respectively.
Although the G-Men suffered their worst finish in the MVAC tournament since joining the league for the 2020-21 season, Moore said that he can see things turning around quickly next year.
“I got some kids coming too so I think they will be alright,” he noted. “It is wait and see, you have to see who comes out and is eligible.”
