Orchard View’s boys bowling team left no doubt about its superiority in the West Michigan Conference this season.
The Cardinals rolled to first place in the conference tournament Monday at Northway Lanes, finishing with a team score of 3167.
Coupled with Orchard View’s first-place finish in the regular-season standings, the Cardinals are overall conference champions with 18.0 points (9.0 in regular season, 9.0 in tournament). Holton was runner-up in the tournament (3078) and in the final conference standings (16.0).
On the girls side, Oakridge captured the WMC overall title. The Eagles (2383) finished runner-up behind Ravenna (2456) in Monday’s conference tourney, but they totaled 16.5 season points to edge the Bulldogs (16.0) in the overall standings.
“It’s been a very special season. We have been in five tournaments this year and won two of them and placed second in the others,” Orchard View bowling coach Bob Larabee said about the Cardinals boys.
“Also this year, I had three bowlers return from last year and wasn’t sure how we were going to do in the conference with some good, quality teams like Ravenna, Oakridge, Whitehall and Holton – all good teams.”
In the boys tournament, Ravenna placed third (3062), Oakridge fourth (3020), Whitehall fifth (2977), Fremont sixth (2787), Montague seventh (2729), Mason County Central eighth (2367) and Ludington ninth (2354).
Orchard View’s Korbin TenBrink and Jeremy Broughton finished first and second in the WMC boys tournament, respectively, by shooting 625 and 592. The rest of the top 10 included Holton’s Bo Larabee (third, 567) and Chase Albright (fifth, 560); Ravenna’s Dylan Gordon (fourth, 565) and Vaughn Luce (tied for 10th, 539); Whitehall’s Gabe Ganos (sixth, 558) and Phoenix Hoffmeyer (seventh, 556); Oakridge’s J-Lynn Cechiori (eighth, 553) and Kyle Weaver (tied for 10th, 539), and Montague’s Bryton Belinger (ninth, 541).
After first-place Orchard View and runner-up Holton, the final boys standings in the WMC went as follows: Oakridge third (13.0), Ravenna fourth (13.0), Whitehall fifth (10.0), Fremont sixth (8.0), Montague seventh (6.0), Ludington eighth (3.0) and Mason County Central ninth (3.0).
In the girls tournament, Whitehall was third (2362), Holton fourth (2356), Orchard View fifth (2343), Fremont sixth (2238), Ludington seventh (2083), Montague eighth (1900) and Mason County Central ninth (1343).
Oakridge’s Kira Twining finished first individually in the tourney at 508, while teammate Serenity Carlisle was 10th (430). Others in the top 10 included Orchard View’s Lacey Claflin (second, 502), Zariah Burt (eighth, 450) and Taylor Beerman (ninth, 438); Whitehall’s Ava Garcia (third, 493) and Morgan Garcia (fourth, 474); Fremont’s Makayla Johnson (fifth, 473); Holton’s Kenidie Shank (sixth, 471) and Ravenna’s Mae Mabrito (seventh, 457).
In the final girls standings for the WMC, following Oakridge and Ravenna were Whitehall in third (15.5), Holton fourth (11.0), Fremont fifth (10.0), Orchard View sixth (7.0), Montague seventh (6.0), Ludington eighth (6.0) and Mason County Central ninth (2.0).
“After being competitive last year and all the girls returning, we were definitely looking to improve and contend for the conference title,” Oakridge coach Fred Stewart said. “With one of the leading bowlers in the conference in Kira Twining and with the improvements of Bella Bowen, Amelia Luft and Serenity Carlisle, we definitely had high hopes.
“We added freshman Emily Santose, who fit in with returning girls and helped the team increase their scores. They worked really hard to increase their spare percentage and it showed throughout the season.”
For several WMC bowling teams, next up is the Greater Muskegon Athletic Association tournament Wednesday at Northway Lanes.
After that, state tournaments take center stage. The regionals are scheduled for Feb. 24-25 and state finals March 3-4.
“Our team goal is to make it to state this year. We have the team to do it if we can stay focused,” Larabee said about his OV boys squad.
The Cardinals have had high goals all season, but it goes deeper than that.
They’ve been giving back to the community.
“This year was the first year I had a couple of bowlers and myself volunteer to deliver meals for Salvation Army and that is something I hope to continue in the upcoming years,” said Larabee, who highlighted Lacey Claflin and River Creed for those efforts.
