Girls bowling: WestLake Conference carries Michigan City regional

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Updated: March 6, 2012 8:25AM

MICHIGAN CITY — Saturday’s Michigan City bowling regional might have been two counties removed from where the WestLake Conference competes, but there was a definite WestLake flavor on the girls side.

When the dust settled, Lake Central made amends for failing to reach the regional last season by winning the title, defeating Boone Grove 331-276 in the two-game Baker final.

In the singles, three of the top four girls were from the WestLake, including Merrillville teammates Kasey Stewart and Carly Larson nabbing the top two seeds. And just like LC, Larson made up for not reaching the regional her last two years by winning the title 201-116 over Stewart.

“It was a little weird being competitive with her,” Larson said. “But I was happy because I got to be supportive too.”

After two regular games in the team event, Lake Central was second after not-so-LC-like games of 819 and 817. Then again, it was a very challenging Kegel sport shot oil condition that literally brought some kids to tears after singles.

“It was a tough shot,” LC coach Stephanie Strickland said. “It definitely emphasizes spare-making.”

The Indians got the boost they needed in the second-to-last Baker game, shooting a meet-high 228 to vault into first. As A Result, they needed to win only one match for the title.

“That was our first clean game we had all day,” Strickland said. “We finally strung some marks together.”

Other teams advancing to Saturday’s Fort Wayne Semistate are Portage and Hebron, both of which lost to Boone Grove in the stepladder finals. Defeating Hebron for the second straight week was especially gratifying for the Wolves since it’s become a competitive rivalry with the Hawks.

“I really wanted that one — it’s pretty intense,” Boone Grove coach Mike Kraushaar said before amending his statement a little. “Well, I want all of them.”