By Josh Brown
Miami Valley Today
TROY — Troy’s girls bowling team got its big win on Wednesday.
For the Trojan boys, that critical victory came Friday.
Granted, any win on Senior Night is a good win.
The Trojans honored their seniors — Carson Rogers for the varsity boys and Adara Myers for the girls — Friday afternoon at Troy Bowl with a sweep of Miami Valley League Miami Division rival Tippecanoe, with the boys pulling into a first-place tie in the division with a 2,289-2,235 victory and the girls remaining in a tie for first with an 1,825-1,588 win over the Red Devils.
Tippecanoe’s boys entered the day with only one loss in division play, but Troy — which improved to 7-5 overall and 5-2 in the MVL Miami — knocked the Devils into a four-way logjam for first at 10-2 overall and 5-2 in division play. Butler and Piqua also hold 5-2 records in the division.
“It feels very good,” Troy boys coach Doug Stone said. “After our last match with Vandalia, Vandalia bowled well and we struggled a bit. That one ended up in a loss, but we can bring it back.”
For Troy’s boys, the key proved to be the first baker game. With the Trojans holding a 1,958-1,831 lead after two games of regular bowling, the Devils held a large lead late in the first baker game — but the Trojans closed it out with three straight strikes and a spare to only let Tippecanoe trim eight pins off their lead, 176-168. The Devils had another strong baker game to finish the match, beating Troy 228-163, but it wasn’t enough to tip the final balance in their favor.
“It was (the key),” Stone said of the first baker game. “Trying to get the boys to pick up spares was the hardest part today. Our baker games is where we really struggle getting them all together on the same page. But we’ll figure it out. We’ve got a little bit of time left.”
For Troy, Drew Snurr led the way with 202-216—418, Jordan Fisher rolled 210-193—403, Brayden Ganger rolled 191-204—395, Adam Shiltz rolled 201-192—393 and Rogers rolled 170-179—349.
“Carson’s struggled a bit this year, and I’ve just get it figured out and get him on the same page as everybody else,” Stone said. “But he bowled well today on Senior Night.”
For Tippecanoe, James Ridgeway led all individuals with 214-224—438, Zach Kauffmann rolled 193-169—362, Austin Post rolled 176-181—357, Colin Maalouf rolled 167-190—357 and Aaron Davis rolled 137-180—317.
Troy’s girls, meanwhile, knocked off division-leading Butler on Wednesday — and posted its best score of the season in the process with a 2,107 — to tie the Aviators for first. After Friday’s win against Tippecanoe, the Trojans are 8-4 overall and 5-2 in the MVL Miami, with Butler also 5-2, while the Devils fell to 3-9 overall and 0-7 in the division.
“(Beating Butler) put us back up there with a chance to win the division,” Troy girls coach Rob Dever said. “We had a lot of our tough games early in the season, so hopefully we can finish out strong and head into the postseason from there.”
Troy’s girls led steadily throughout, up 1,517-1,308 after two regular games and then winning both bakers 170-148 and 138-132 to finish it off.
Kayleigh McMullen led the Trojans with 150-183—333, Kylie Schiml rolled 177-150-327, Kaitlyn Jackson rolled 138-148—286, Myers rolled 136-119—255, Jami Loy added a 170 game and Hope Shiltz added a 146.
“The girls struggled with their shot a little bit today and I know they can do better — but of course, the coach always says that,” Dever said with a laugh. “We had our best score of the season on Wednesday, so that’s kind of hard to top two days in a row. Adara was excited because it was Senior Night, and sometimes it’s tough to bowl when you’re all hyped up like that. But she had fun and had a good Senior Night, and that’s all that matters.”
For Tippecanoe, Alison Johnston rolled 162-144—306, Emma Lara rolled 136-150—286, Isabeall Janney rolled 135-126—261, Emily Von Krosigk rolled 142-114—256, Taylor Horne added a 107 game and Julian Arblaster added a 92.
For both Troy teams — who still have two division matches to go — thoughts of the postseason are hard to ignore, with both teams looking to get back to the state tournament.
“We finish with a couple matches here at home, so that will help. But the biggest thing to look for now is getting ready for sectionals and districts,” Stone said.
“We’ve got the MVL postseason and the sectionals coming up,” Dever said. “I knew we took a big hit with graduation last year, so I told the girls at the beginning of the year as long as we’re getting better from the beginning of the season to the end, I’ll be happy with them. And they’re getting better. I like the track we’re on right now.”
Troy travels to Greenon Monday for a quad along with Fairborn and Mechanicsburg. Tippecanoe, meanwhile, travels to Valley View Tuesday.
Contact Josh Brown at [email protected], or follow @TroyDailySports on Twitter.
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