Antietam’s Ayden Davis and Muhlenberg’s Frankie Kelly took different paths, but each ended up with a gold medal Thursday at the BCIAA individual bowling tournaments at Hiester Lanes.
Davis, a senior who went into the bracket finals seeded fourth, defeated Hamburg’s Ashton Haag 258-154 in the boys championship match. Kelly, a senior who was the top seed, beat Gov. Mifflin’s Valleri Addis 214-202 in the girls final.
“It feels pretty good,” Davis said.
“Amazing,” Kelly said. “I’ve been bowling on Muhlenberg since freshman year and I just didn’t think I would ever get this far. Being a senior and finally being able to get first felt like a dream come true.”
The bowlers rolled four games earlier this week, with the top 24 returning for another four games Thursday. The totals from each day were combined, with the top six advancing to the bracket finals.
Davis, last year’s co-Berks Player of the Year and a three-time All-Berks selection, was 14th following the event’s first day after an 815 series, but he rolled a 977 Thursday to jump to fourth.
“First day I definitely struggled a little bit, couldn’t really find a good look,” Davis said. “But I think today everything just clicked with my game. I just stayed calm and just took it one shot at a time because it’s all you can do.”
Davis defeated fifth-seeded Andrew Long of Muhlenberg 246-219 in the quarterfinals, then defeated top-seeded Patrick Moore of Daniel Boone 245-178 in the semis.
Haag, the sixth seed, beat third-seeded Aidan Long of Exeter 266-246 in the quarterfinals, then downed second-seeded John Giglio of Wilson 215-207 in the semis.
It’s the first county title for Davis, who finished second last year and as a freshman, and fifth as a sophomore.
“It’s definitely a good feeling to win anything,” Davis said.
Up next is the District 3 Tournament, which Davis is looking to win for the second time. The tournament is Saturday, Feb. 25, at Clearview Lanes in Mount Joy for boys and girls.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Davis said. “I’m pretty confident right now with my game. I won it my freshman year, so hopefully I can win it again as a senior; that’d be cool.”
Kelly was third going into Thursday after rolling an 819, then had an 866 series Thursday to earn the No. 1 seed and a quarterfinal bye.
She won her semifinal match 263-243 over fourth-seeded Haley Schwenk of Exeter.
“I was very, very nervous,” Kelly said about how she felt before the match. “I was shaking. I was thinking I could not do it, but I just let all that emotion go and just rolled my ball.”
Schwenk had beaten fifth-seeded Courtney Britton of Conrad Weiser in the quarterfinals. In the other quarterfinal, third-seeded Lily Watts of Gov. Mifflin beat sixth-seeded Kayla Kulp of Exeter 215-202.
Addis advanced to the final with a 237-212 win over Watts.
The championship victory continued a steady climb for Kelly. She finished 14th in the county as a freshman, eighth as a sophomore and fifth last year to earn All-Berks honors.
Now, she too is looking ahead to districts and has a similar feeling to that of Davis.
“I feel very confident,” Kelly said. “I think that I just need to roll the ball and just adjust very quickly.”
Source: Berkshire mont
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