Warren Mott Boys and Girls Bowling Teams Take Second in Tri-County Invitational Tournament

This past Saturday, January 30th, the Warren Mott Boys Varsity and Girls Varsity teams competed in the second annual Tri-County Invitational Tournament held at Five Star Lanes in Sterling Heights. The Boy's team was defending champion and were looking to take the traveling trophy back to Warren Mott High School for another year. The competition was from schools all over the state of Michigan and included schools from Milford, Hartland and as far away as Hudsonville (Grand Rapids area).

This was going to be a real test for a team that has been almost completely rebuilt from last year. During the qualifying round of 14 Baker games, the boys were going strong and had posted a total that was leading the tournament after the first ten games but games eleven through fourteen proved to be a bit more difficult and the team ended up with the number two seed going into the match play sessions. The match play would have the top 16 teams bowl each other in a NCAA format with a team needing to win three out of five Baker matches to advance.

In the first round the boy's met up with the 15th seeded Divine Child and struggled to a 3-0 victory to move on to the quarter finals. In the next round the boy's from Milford proved to be a real challenge as the Marauders won the first two games only to see Milford force a fifth and deciding game by winning the next two games. In the deciding match the boy's from Warren Mott gutted out a hard fought 180-148 victory to move into the semi-finals against Troy High. In the semi-finals the Marauders showed some spunk and posted some of their best games of the day shooting 234 and 244 to defeat the Colts 3-1 and move into the finals.

The final match for the tournament title proved to be a rematch from last years tournament final as the team from Hudsonville defeated L'Anse Creuse North to earn their title shot. Last year it was Warren Mott defeating Hudsonville for the title and the Eagles had something to prove this year. In the finals this year, it was all Hudsonville as they put on a striking show and defeated the Marauders 3-0. Although they finished second, it was a very good tournament for Warren Mott and a good test for the upcoming divisional and state competition.

The Warren Mott girls' varsity also had a fine tournament showing and placed second as well. After qualifying in third position, and gaining a bye in the first round, the Lady Marauders faced the girls' from Lakeshore High School. Warren Mott bowled steady and made a few more spares, something the coaches liked to see, than Lakeshore and moved on to the semi-finals with a 3-0 sweep of Lakeshore. In the semi-final, the Lady Marauders would face a very tough challenge against an always strong Milford team. After splitting the first two games, Warren Mott rolled a fine 213 game to take a 2-1 lead and held on in the tenth frame to win the fourth and deciding game and earn a 3-1 victory. But, there was no time to rest as the team from Troy Athens was waiting for the Lady Marauders in the finals.

Troy Athens had advanced by defeating a good Hartland team, the perennial powerhouse Stevenson and the girls from Mercy in Farmington and was now ready to take on Warren Mott in the finals. The Lady Marauders set an early tone as they shot their second 200 game in the last three and beat Athens 213-123 but that was the last of the good scoring for Warren Mott. As the lanes dried out, and the balls started hooking more, it was the ladies from Troy Athens who were able to make all the necessary adjustments as they won the next three matches to earn this years title.

As with the boy's team, the girls all bowled well and put everything into it they had and at the end of the day, second place is not a bad place to be. The tournament experience will help both teams as they prepare for divisional, regional and state competition and work towards capturing the ultimate goal, a high school state title.

Jerry Tarabek Assistant Coach