Bowling: LC sweeps WestLake Sectional
By Anthony Nasella Post-Tribune correspondent January 29, 2012 11:18PM
Lake Central's Samantha Watson celebrates after throwing a strike during the WestLake bowling sectional held at Stardust II in Hobart on Sunday January 29, 2012. | Charles Mitchell~For Sun-Times Media
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Updated: March 1, 2012 8:40AM
HOBART — Even though the Lake Central boys bowling team was almost a week removed from last Monday’s sizzling 2,360 performance in 10 Baker games to capture the WestLake Conference crown, the Indians picked up right where they left off at Sunday’s WestLake Sectional at Stardust Bowl II.
Lake Central opened the day with a 2,187 in the first two games and followed that up with a 976 in five Baker games to qualify first for the championship match, 359 pins ahead of Crown Point.
In the final against the Bulldogs, LC won the first game by 37 pins and played even with Crown Point in the second game to earn the trophy.
“They were locked and loaded when the came here today — a rare strong start for us because we’re usually slow out of the gate,” Lake Central coach Gregg Schmeid said. “But the boys were so hot on Monday, and they really threw the ball good again today. When their loose and letting it rip, they’re good.”
To the reach the final and a berth in this Saturday’s regional at City Lanes in Michigan City, Crown Point had to overcome a slow start in the first two games after Merrillville was in second and took a 118-pin lead over the Bulldogs. But a 1,023 performance in the Baker set and a 785 by Merrillville set up the showdown between LC and CP.
“We just had to get back to the basics,” Crown Point coach Dwayne Locher said. “I believe in them, but they have to believe in themselves. I told them it all comes from the heart. How bad do you want it? Based on the scores in the Baker games, my boys wanted it.”
In the girls division, Lake Central continued its winning ways by securing a regional berth with 2,894 pins in the four-team field. The Indians started the day with 1,850 in the first two games — 220 pins ahead of the field. But they found their stride in Bakers, racking up 1,044 pins in the five-game block to finish 419 pins ahead for the title.
“We talked about staying aggressive and not letting up because Merrillville and Crown Point are good teams,” LC coach Stephanie Strickland said. “As the lanes were breaking down in the second game, the transition was a little tougher for us to figure that out. But once we figured it out, we really bowled well, especially with our spare game.”
In singles competition, Andrean’s Jake McCoy defeated Lake Central’s Nathan Maciejwski 226-184 for the boys title, while LC’s Kelly Belzeski defeated Carly Larson of Merrillville 211-175 for the girls title.
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