Junior Varsity falls for the first time this season

By: Coach Jerry Tarabek
February 2, 2003

For the first time this season, the boys junior varsity team tasted defeat at the hands of a very good Macomb Dakota team. Needing a victory, or a Warren Cousino loss, to clinch the division title, the boys came out a little flat in the first of the two baker games. They did pick up the pace to win the second baker game ant the baker series to gain a 6-4 lead going into the team match play. The first match play game saw captain Jeff Peltier lead the way with a solid 205 game, while senior Darryl Sage chipped in a 196 and Kris Smith won his match with a 178. This gave the Junior Marauders a 13-6 lead going into the last team match play game and needing just 3 more points to clinch the division. However, Macomb Dakota still had something to say about the outcome as they found their strike targets and pulled together a solid 905 game. Darryl Sage came back with a good 184 and Kris Smith shot 177 but it was Kyle Kovach who won the only point the second game with a 167 game. With the one point, the boys ended up with 14 points, 2 short of the totals needed for a meet victory. It is now down to the last week of the season as the boys now stand at 7-1-1 for the season. They will face cross city rival Warren Cousino, who have won 7 straight meets to stand at 7-2-0, for a winner take all match up this Friday at Sterling Lanes in Sterling Heights. The winner of that match will be the division champions and be the front runner in the divisional qualifying to go to the regional tournament in Rochester Hills in a couple of weeks.

The Boys Varsity team won again this week running their record to 9-0-0 for the season but it was no walk in the park. The Cougars from Macomb Dakota gave our guys all they could handle as the Marauders won one team match play game by 10 pins and the other by 50 pins. The boys started out strong as they bowled back-to-back 200 games in the baker matches rolling 214 and 224. This is an area that will get a great deal of attention, beginning this Sunday, as the baker format comes more into play the balance of the season. Justin Neiman, who is the average and individual match points leader, continued to bowl well shooting 211 and 210 for the day. Chris Lepkowski came off the bench the second game to rack up a 215 while Brian Lake and Paul Narlock chipped in 207 games each. Justin Neiman has the individual points title wrapped up with 17 points with one week to go, his average title is still up for grabs as teammate Brian Lake is right behind him. The boys next look to the final week of the meet season with hopes of completing an unbeaten season at the expense of Chippewa Valley.

The Girls Varsity team also won for the ninth time this season, stretching their record to 9-0-0. Since this team was formed last season, their overall record has been 17-2-0, not bad for a bunch of sophomores, with a junior thrown in. This past week the girls bowled a short handed Macomb Dakota team and did what they needed to do, winning 27-3. One of the things we have been looking for is consistency in scoring from the ladies team and we sure got it this week. Jessica Tyler shot a pair of 159 games, Kim Felix nearly did the same shooting 153 and 154, while Nicole Griebe (133-150), Lindsay Felix (146-150) and Nikki Wilczek (135-145) all saw more stable performances this week. Even though there is room for improvement on shot making, especially with spares, the girls are beginning to come into their own as the post-season approaches. Individual points titles are also up for grabs between the girls. Kim Felix leads the way with 16 points while Nicole Griebe (15) and Lindsay Felix (14) both have a shot at the overall title. The ladies will get a good test this coming week as they face the second place Chippewa Valley team with league average leader Beth Roberts.

The girls junior varsity team really put a scare into the boys team from Sterling Heights this past week as they jumped out to an 8-2 lead after the baker game sets. However, the ladies were over matched in the team match play portion and fell to the Junior Stallions 21-9. Senior Jessica Hendrix won an individual match point as she shot 157 in the opening game for the only point the girls would win. Veronica Wineski played yo-yo bowling again this week but did shoot a 162 her second game, for the high game for the ladies on either the varsity or junior varsity teams. The girls will receive an automatic birth in the regional tournament to be bowled in Rochester Hills in a few weeks as a just reward for having to face the boys teams all season long. The girls have a chance of finishing in 6th place in the division with a win this week versus the blind team as they could finish 3-7 in their very first season as a junior varsity girls team.

This next week, our tenth meet, will be the last of the regular meet schedule. The following week will be the divisional qualifying events for singles and team to see who will represent the division at the regional competition. The singles event will be held at Rosebowl Lanes on Wednesday, February 12th while the team event will be at Sunnybrook Lanes on Friday, February 14th.

We also are having our Moonlight fundraiser event on February 22nd at Universal Lanes beginning at 9:00 PM. Please help promote the good bowling that these teams have been giving us all season by attending the fundraiser and helping to meet our financial goals for the season.

Jerry Tarabek / Head Bowling Coach