Evergreen and Skyview win on the lanes; veterans win at Seton Catholic-King’s Way Christian games
It was a Friday to remember for area bowling teams, and then a special night for the two faith-based schools in the Trico League.
The Evergreen Plainsmen, who have won the last three Class 3A state team titles in bowling, won the District IV bowling crown on Friday at Crosley Lanes. In 4A, it was all Skyview Storm.
Later that night, King’s Way Christian hosted Seton Catholic in girls and boys basketball. The teams played in front of a packed house on military appreciation night.
District bowling in Class 3A is as intense of a competition as in any sport these days. The last three years, the two teams from the 3A Greater St. Helens League have gone on to finish 1-2 at state.
Evergreen, which finished third in the regular season this year, raced out to a big lead after the three traditional individual games, then saw its lead get smaller during the first five Baker games. Evergreen magic came alive in the sixth Baker game.
Teryn Stine got a strike on the sixth frame, followed by Alexis Clarke in the seventh, Karina Johnsen in the eight, and Kierra Wilcox in the ninth. That brought up Kailee Wilcox for the 10th frame. She rolled strikes on her first two rolls, giving the team six in a row and a huge lead heading into the seventh and final Baker game.
By the end of the day, Evergreen totalled 3,757 pins, defeating second-place Prairie by 94 pins.
“It’s a big win for us. It shows a lot,” Kailee Wilcox said. “It shows that we are getting better and we still have something in us.”
Earlier in the day, Kailee Wilcox rolled her best series of the season, a 657, to win the individual title.
“It was a good day,” she said with a smile.
Prairie, meanwhile, made it to state as a team by holding off Fort Vancouver. Those two teams tied for the regular-season title. Only 29 pins separated the two going into the final Baker game. Fort had a strong early push to erase that deficit, but Prairie would get strikes on four consecutive frames to secure that final berth to state.
Not quite as dramatic for 4A. Only one berth to state, and Skyview pretty much claimed that early in the day with a huge lead. Skyview’s Nicole Hayes had a 553 individual series to win the title, leading her team to victory.
“It’s amazing. It’s my senior year. I worked so hard this year,” Hayes said. “I couldn’t have done it without my family, my teammates, my coaches.”
The team title is special, too.
“I was with my team, for my team,” Hayes said. “I was always there with my team, wanting to help them, wanting to be there, cheering them on.”
In Chehalis, the Columbia River bowling team made it to state, finishing second in the 2A district tournament.
On Friday night, a huge rivalry continued with Seton Catholic and King’s Way Christian. But instead of just an us vs. them mentality, the schools brought everybody together to salute the military and to recognize that the two schools have more in common than differences. Both athletic directors spoke in between the girls and boys game.
There was a prayer, and both student sections formed a circle around the court, around a military color guard, for the national anthem.
As far as the games, well, those were special, too, in terms of atmosphere. Both student sections were having a blast, trying to one-up the other. At halftime, there was an obstacle course, relay event, pitting students from each school.
King’s Way Christian prevailed on the court two times.
In the girls game, the Knights jumped out to a huge early lead. Seton Catholic rallied to make it a two-point game at one point, but the Knights never lost the lead and won 48-40. Abby Cummins led the team with 15 points. Laurel Quinn added 14 as the Knights improved to 6-2 in league.
Seton Catholic, led by Jasmine Morgan’s 18 points, fell to 2-6.
In the boys game, King’s Way Christian remained undefeated in league with a 68-64 victory. Seton Catholic had it to a one-point game two times in the fourth quarter, but Gage Koenders and Kobi Cason were just too strong down the stretch for King’s Way Christian.
Cason, a matchup problem for anybody in the state, scored eight of his 22 points in the final quarter. Koenders had 11 of his 17 in the final frame, including three 3-pointers. King’s Way Christian improved to 7-0 in the Trico.
Seton Catholic was led by Gabe Anderson’s 20 points. The Cougars fell to 4-4 in league.
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Here’s your basketball update from all of the leagues:
4A boys: Union clinched the title, while Battle Ground, Camas, and Skyview are all tied for second place with two games to play.
4A girls: Skyview is alone in first place. Union and Camas are tied in the loss column two games behind Skyview. The Storm take on Camas and Union this week.
3A boys: The Evergreen Plainsmen did it. They won the league title. They have a two-game lead with two to play and all the tiebreakers. Prairie is alone in second place.
3A girls: Prairie is still Prairie, which means still in first place. Two games up and looking poised to win another league title.
2A boys: The Columbia River Chieftains won another league title. They beat R.A. Long on Saturday to improve to 10-0 in league play. Two to go and a three-game lead. That’s a coach’s dream scenario there.
2A girls: Washougal remains undefeated in league, a game up on Columbia River. Those two teams play each other Thursday.
1A boys: King’s Way Christian is undefeated. La Center is a game back. They play each other Thursday.
1A girls: La Center is undefeated and has a two-game lead.
