Bowling: Highland boys, Griffith girls win DAC Sectional

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Updated: March 1, 2012 8:35AM

HIGHLAND — It was an all-Highland day during qualifying at Saturday’s Duneland Sectional at Plaza Lanes, as both the boys and girls qualified first for the championship match.

And while the Highland boys won their second sectional crown in the last three years, it was the Griffith girls who continued their sectional dominance.

The Panthers won the first game by 79 pins and maintained the lead despite a strong effort by the Trojans in the second game to win by 22 pins for a fourth straight title.

“I have four seniors who I have coached all four years, and we know what they’ve got,” Griffith coach Colleen Lidster said. “But a couple underclassmen came though big time today.

“Highland is always good no matter how they’re running. It was the same a week ago in our conference meet against them, and it was just as exciting today.”

For the Highland girls, a 129 obviously put them in a must-deliver situation in Game 2. An improved 188 just wasn’t enough.

“We had a really good day,” Highland coach Janee Babbitt said. “But the girls tend to worry too much about their opponents. But I’m proud the way they kept working.”

For the Highland boys, a 215 first game put them at a huge advantage against Lake Station — which, like the Highland girls, rolled a low 128 in the first game.

“They bowled well on the good lane in the first game,” Highland coach Claude Jackson said. “Then they just had to bowl well enough on the bad one, which they did.”

The Eagles fired back with a solid 221 in the second game on eight strikes, but they were unable to overcome the 87-pin deficit.

“We didn’t adjust well in that first game, and that was the difference,” Lake Station coach Bill Morton said. “The boys have a good team attitude. We worked all week on spares, and they really did great.”