Bombers Return to Districts
The Bowling Bombers returned to Colerain Bowl for Sectionals for the first time since the 2017-2018 season on Wednesday. The Bombers and Elder Panthers entered as defending sectional champions from last season (Elder at Colerain Bowl and St. X at Crossgate Lanes) and would be lane partners for the morning session. Out of the 19 teams at Colerain Bowl, the top 8 teams and top 8 individuals not on a team would move onto districts.
In game one, the Bombers were led by Senior Jalen Morrow with a 264. Allen Rosal was the only other Bomber to cross the 200 mark with a 211. Jared Littelmann, Chris Obert, and Zack Beard threw games of 182, 176, and 171. The Bombers shot a 1004 and settled into 3rd place, 3 pins behind Colerain and 55 pins behind the Fairfield Indians.
In game two, the Bombers struggled early in transition before putting it together for a 925. Chris Obert rolled a 192 and Zack Beard shot a 191 for the Bombers. Jalen Morrow closed frames to keep the Bombers close with a 181. Jared Littelmann shot his lowest game of the day with a 172. Andrew Berkemeier replaces Allen Rosal in the 9th frame and closed the door with 4 strikes to finish with a 189. The Bombers continued to trail Fairfield and Colerain and held small leads over Elder and Wilmington.
Jalen Morrow rolled the front 7 in game three before finishing with a 254 and a 699 series. Chris Obert continued to improve as he shot a 219 for a 587 series. Jared Littelmann rolled a 539 on the day with a game 3 score of 185. Zack Beard ended his day with a 166 and a 528 series. Sophomore Andrew Berkemeier finished game 3 with a 172 series. The Bombers 996 was not good enough to keep them in third as big games from Elder (1085) and Wilmington (1067) dropped the Bombers to fifth going into bakers. The Bombers finished the morning with a 2925.
The Bombers entered bakers trailing Fairfield by 149 pins, Colerain by 114, Wilmington by 92, and Elder by 59. In the first four bakers the Bombers shot games of 216, 205, 188, and 221 for a total of 830 and a running total of 3755. Fairfield continued to increase their lead as they sat at 3892. Elder had jumped Wilmington and Colerain to move into second with a 3792, followed by Colerain at 3767, and Wilmington with a 3757. In game 5, Fairfield added 258 to their total, 4150, and essentially locking their first place finish. The Panthers shot a 207 for a 3999 while the Colerain Cardinals put up a 225 to pull within 7 of second with a 3992. Wilmington shot a 191 for a 3948 while the Bombers put up a 220. The Bombers moved into 4th place with a 3975. In the 6th and final game, Fairfield put up another 250 game with a 256 and locking the win with a 4406 total. Colerain and Elder stumbled with games of 179 and 165 with Colerain moving to 4171 and Elder ending the day with a 4164. Wilmington rolled a 193 to pull within 20 of 4th with a 4141. The Bombers ended the day with a 192 beating Elder by 3 and missing Colerain by 4 with a running total of 4167. The Bombers ended bakers with a 1242, third to only Fairfield with a 1332 and Oak Hills with 1270.
The Bombers will join fellow GCL members Elder and LaSalle next week at the OHSAA District Tournament at Beaver Vu Bowl.
Record Performance
Jalen Morrow's 699 three game series is the 9th best 3-game series in school history. His 264 ranks him with the 64th best individual game in school history. The Bombers' 4167 is the 6th best total at seciontals in school history. The Bombers failed to make it out of sectionals in their 2 years of the program (2001-02 and 2002-03) but since then have made it to districts every year but once, 2003-04 through 2021-22. The Bombers have made it to districts every year since the 2009-10 season and 10 of those 12 seasons have been as a team with individuals making it in 2014-15 and 2018-19.
Upcoming Schedule
The Bowling Bombers return to Beaver-Vu Bowl on Friday March 4th to roll in the OHSAA District Tournament.
Complete Results