Since joining the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Grey Tier Division for the 2020-21 season, the Garfield G-Men girls’ bowling team has been a staple of consistency. The G-Men continued rolling by defeating MVAC Grey Tier foe Champion 2017-1570 last Wednesday afternoon at the Skylane Bowling Alley in Garrettsville.
“We were pretty close to our average,” said Coach Joe Brigham. “It was more consistent plus we bowled a little bit better. The difference was that we bowled them here at our place this time and we bowled them at their place last time so that makes a difference.”
Sophomore Joy Justice paced the G-Men by knocking down 390 pins, followed by senior Haley Thompson who bowled a 299, junior Alexis Phillips scored a 283, junior Kim Bowers rolled a 267, sophomore Sierra Foy knocked down 130 pins in the first game and junior Makenna Guyette rolled a 160 in Foy’s place in the second game.
After two games, the G-Men girls (13-0, 11-0) led the Champion 1529-1229 and maintained their lead in the Baker game series, where they scored a combined 488 against the Golden Flashes’ 341 to win the re-match.
“We made a lot of spares,” noted the 24-year coach. “In bowling, the name of the game is that you have to make spares. It was a pretty commanding first game. That is how this year has gone for us this year.”
Dominating victories have become a common trend for Garfield, which has only lost 40 matches in the program’s 24 years of existence.
According to Brigham, one of the keys to Garfield’s consistent success has been the small senior classes that have graduated each year, allowing him to return the majority of his team in each season. It has also helped that the underclassmen have usually played huge roles each season, as evidenced by the sophomore Justice who is continuing to pace Garfield after a spectacular freshman campaign.
“She was doing that last year,” Brigham said. “She actually shot a 300 two years ago as an eighth grader. You don’t find very many of them. We have had a few of them over the years and we have had girls like her, but they don’t come around very often and be that good.”
After rolling a 175 in the first game, Justice was sharper in her second game, bowling a 215, enabling the G-Men to maintain a lead and score a combined team score of 729 in the second game.
“I mention it every time we start a match, we have to make spares,” Brigham said. “Anybody can throw a strike, but you are not going to throw a strike all of the time and we are going to be shooting a lot more spares than strikes.”
Guyette aided the G-Men by taking Foy’s place in the line-up in the second game.
One of Brigham’s coaching philosophies has been flexibility in his line-ups, adhering to the rule that the lowest three scorers of the first game are subbed out for the first three off the bench in the second game.
The G-Men were short-handed on Wednesday, so only one sub came off of the bench in the second game, but Guyette still performed well by being the team’s sixth bowler.
“I try to give them an incentive to be better,” he said. “You have to bowl and if you want to stay in, you have to bowl well so if you don’t want to come out, I suggest you bowl well.”
Having not graduated any seniors from last year’s team, the G-Men girls have returned with more experience and a thirst to capture that MVAC Grey Tier banner outright for the first time since the 2022 season.
After winning the MVAC Grey Tier title in their first two seasons since joining the conference, Garfield has fallen short the last two seasons by yielding the banner to LaBrae. Brigham acknowledged that the two-year drought has not sat well with his bowlers, but they also have kept their perspective.
“I don’t let them forget it,” he said. “I make sure it is a point of emphasis. We have to make sure there is a bigger picture, but our biggest picture is that you get through the league and move on through the tournament.”
After a road match against LaBrae on Wednesday afternoon at the Freeway Lanes in Warren, they will return home and host MVAC Grey Tier rival Ravenna Southeast on Monday afternoon at 4 p.m.
