The boys began their morning
session with an 848 series, much below their normal scoring. The scores
being rolled in the first game around us were in the 900s and 1000s,
putting the team in a catch-up situation. They continued the session
with a 933 and a 936 series, closer to their normal scores. Going into
the last session, the boys were barely hanging into qualifying and needed
a good final game to continue. With the last game being only 862 pins,
they had to wait to see if they would qualify as one of the 16 teams
to continue into the afternoon.
With a 15th place finish
from the morning session, the boys faced #2 Lake Brantley in the opening
round of the tournament where they began Baker play. Beginning with
this round, each team had to win three games in order to advance. With
three straight points and a total of 562 for the three games, they easily
defeated the Patriots to move on to the next round on the championship
bracket side.
Their next opponent was West
Boca Raton, who was seeded #10. With the determination to continue on
the winner’s side, the Darters again took three straight games,
bowling a 655 series, including a 245 game. “The boys pulled together
and began acting as a real team again, encouraging each other and showing
their true spirit. I was so proud of their come-back effort and their
teamwork to get the job done.”
The next morning, the Darters
faced #6 seeded Boone. After a shaky start and losing the first point,
the boys improved their game and bowled a 216 game to take the second
point. Although they rolled two more good games, they fell short of
the necessary points needed to advance in the championship bracket as
they lost 1-3.
Their next opponent was the
#1 seeded Santaluces Community High School. After leaving four open
frames, the Darters rolled a string of strikes to take the first point
against a strong team. The scores fell in the second game, but again
the Darters held their ground. The third game had both teams rolling
over 200 but was won by Santaluces. The Darters then took the final
game to win the series and advance to the next session.
The boys faced #13 seeded
William T. Dwyer High School in the afternoon. Despite rolling a 219
game, the Darters found themselves down three points after three quick
game. This put them out of the tournament with their second loss.
We lost our edge in the final
match against Dwyer when the crowd was taken out of the picture. Our
fans kept us pumped up and going, but when they were asked to hold down
the noise level, our fire seemed to go out. We were used to the noise
and the spirit, and the quiet seemed to work to Dwyer’s advantage
and was a disadvantage to us. Nevertheless, I was extremely proud of
the effort put forth by our team and the fact that they were able to
beat both the #1 and the #2 seeds. They showed great class and sportsmanship
throughout the tournament and can hold their heads up high to have come
out with a fourth place finish in the state.
