The New Palestine boys bowling team poses after their sixth place finish at the Indianapolis Semi-State on Saturday, Jan. 28.
Submitted photo
By Brady Extin | Daily Reporter
It took nearly every frame of the 12 games bowled at last weekend’s Indianapolis Semi-State to decide the final spot for the Indiana High School Bowling state championships.
For New Palestine, that was a good thing.
The Dragons fought back with a final game score of 193 to overtake the Evansville Central Bears and earn the final position.
The Dragons’ score of 2,102 topped Evansville Central’s 2,084 and was just four pins behind West Lafayette Harrison for fifth place.
Rounding out the state qualifiers from the Indianapolis tournament were McCutcheon (2,331), Avon (2,245), Charlestown (2,222), and Richmond (2,169).
“For how our team has come, I’m really happy about it. I’ve been bowling for about two years in high school now, and last year we only made it as far as regional,” team member Nathan Danz said. “We got new coaches this year, and our team has really developed well. Overall, I think we’ve really improved this year as a team.”
“Semi-state was a little rough, but we made it through it, and now we’re on to state and hoping to win it all. That’s our ultimate goal.”
In a field of 12 teams, the Dragons found themselves right around the final qualifying spot all day long.
After three games they were in eighth place, and midway through the day they sat in seventh, one spot out.
“It was a little more challenging since it was our first time going to semi-state,” team member Chance Batts said. “It’s a little different knowing the competition there is more challenging.”
Three games later, and with just three games remaining, the Dragons jumped into the sixth-place position for the first time all day, just 15 pins ahead of Harrison.
“I have told our kids from day one, we are one team. We practice as one, compete as one and win as one. We can’t do it without each other,” New Palestine coach April Baldwin said. “I truly believe they put this in motion, and why we are in the place we are today.”
In those final three games, the last two qualifying spots rotated between New Palestine, Evansville Central and Harrison.
In game No. 10, Harrison bowled a 222 to jump the Dragons, but a 163 from Evansville Central allowed New Palestine to close the gap on them with its round of 190.
The next game was back in the Bears favor, they outscored New Palestine by 24 pins and Harrison by 37 to enter the final game up 26 on the Dragons and 22 on the Raiders.
“The last game, I don’t think any of them really knew, but I knew that we really needed a big game there since the team right next to us was just in front of us,” Danz said. “I just told the team to keep your head up, and that we had to finish the game out, and do well, and we pulled it out. It was a big moment.”
With Evansville Central bowling a 149, both New Palestine and Harrison bowled games of 193 to erase their deficits.
“I’m really proud of the team. Just the way we’ve competed and practiced. I’ve been with the team for three years now, and there’s been a lot of changes, but I think it was for the good. And, we’re just bowling really good right now,” team member Cameron Yokum said. “You’ve just got to keep making good shots. It doesn’t matter if you’re fully out of it or in the cut, you’ve got to keep making good shots to stay in it.”
After finishing comfortably in second place at both sectional and regional, the hard-fought semi-state was a new experience for the Dragons.
“Semi-state was pretty hard. We snuck in, but I’m excited to go to state with a good team,” team member Chase Thompson said. “I think our nerves got to us. It really gets to you when you’ve only got two games left and you’ve got to bowl really good games. There’s a lot of good competition we bowl against.”
The Dragons turn their attention to the state finals on Saturday, Feb. 11 at Royal Pin Western in Indianapolis, where the top 12 teams in the state will be competing.
“It’s going to be fun,” senior Blake Neal said. “It’s the first time for me in my senior year, and I think our team has improved a lot.”
“I think these next few practices are really going to help us out, but I think mentally we’re ready. We’re ready to win it all,” Danz said. “We’re going to practice on some harder sets this week, and I think that’ll help us be ready to win it all.”
