Dan Stickradt
Sports Scene
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
With no seniors in its top five bowlers, Lake Orion might have been penciled in for reaching high success levels in future years, but the Dragons have no plans of waiting.
Lake Orion, 4-0 in dual matches, captured its second Oakland County Girls’ Bowling Tournament title in four years Sunday at Thunderbird Lanes in Troy by topping Lakeland in the finals, 385-335.
Coming out of the 27-school qualifying block as the No. 4 seed, the Dragons topped 2013 champion Holly (334-203), Oxford (375-335), and Farmington-Harrison Unified (370-355) before downing Lakeland Jan. 18 in the marathon tournament.
“I have got a good farm club coming up,” said Lake Orion coach Denny O’Neill. “We don’t have seniors in our [starting] lineup. Our only senior is like No. 8. We have some good young players. Our future is looking good.
“The girls came to the line, they did the job, and they stayed focused,” added O’Neill. “I think they can have a really good year.”
Lakeland had lost in the finals two years ago to Holly, and returned to the finals this year by downing South Lyon (289-263), Waterford Kettering (339-318), and Clarenceville (303-302).
The Eagles’ run was hindered, as one of their top five players was out with a broken thumb. “We were down a girl today,” noted Lakeland coach Tom Oddi. “We have a bowler who averages 185 but broke her thumb. We had some bowlers step up today, and that was really cool. We are going to add that piece back in and the girls are confident. We have seven bowlers who can all play a part in what we have to do as a team.”
Individually, Farmington-Harrison Unified’s duo of Candyce Bradley (675) and Rachel Doran (616) grabbed the top two spots in the high series leader board. Clarkston’s Tess Horowitz (609), Oxford’s Megan Kessler (608), and South Lyon East’s Makayla Lancioni (606) rounded out the top five.
Oxford’s Mackenzie Janssen posted the high game of 259 on the day, followed by Clarkston’s Horowitz (257), Unified’s Bradley (239), South Lyon East’s Lancioni (237) and Royal Oak’s Hannah Ferriby (237).
dan.Stickradt@northoaklandsports.com