MCC bowlers get ready for district championships

Mid-Columbia Conference bowlers will hit the lanes Thursday looking to secure a trip to state.

All eight MCC teams, as well as Ellensburg, will square off in the district championships at noon at Atomic Bowl in Richland.

Class 4A and 3A/2A/1A bowlers, who face a long day of three scratch games and seven bakers, will compete for one team berth and two individual spots in each classification. The state championships are Feb. 5-6 at Narrows Plaza Bowl in University Place.

Hanford, which claimed the MCC regular-season title with a 13-1 record, seeks its second consecutive district crown.

Sophomore Sara Harris, the reigning 3A/2A/1A individual district champion, led the conference this season with a 191 average. The other members of the Falcons’ district team — Megan Bean, Danyelle Moore, Bryanna Decker, Emily Goodnight, Kylee Horner and Amanda Knowles — averaged 142 or better.

The biggest threat to the Falcons in the 3A/2A/1A tournament could be Selah (12-2 MCC), which had its best season ever after winning five matches last winter. The Vikings went 13-3 overall, finishing the season on an 11-match winning streak.

“My girls went on a mission after posting our second loss to Richland, letting that win slip away,” coach William Foster said. “We started our win streak at Pasco and a few days later handed Hanford their only loss, building the team’s confidence in what they could accomplish.”

Normally a powerhouse, Kennewick (6-8) found itself in a rebuilding mode this season.

“We have raw talent and need to work on focusing that talent,” said coach Oscar Garnica, whose Lions went 13-1 last season and sent two individuals to state. “Lack of execution and focus (were) our greatest enemies this season.

“Our expectations as coaches for districts is that our bowlers go out and focus, just simply picking up their spares while keeping it fun. Districts is a fresh start, and anything can happen.”

The turnaround team on the 4A side has been second-year program Walla Walla (7-7), which won two matches last season. Kayla Davis finished second in the MCC with a 186 average. Fellow sophomore Cecilia Chantel averaged 150 in the last 14 games and rolled her first 200.

Chiawana (8-6) won five of its first seven matches, but the Riverhawks struggled to start the second half of the season.

“With two matches being canceled due to the weather and the winter break, we lost some of our rhythm that we are getting back,” Chiawana coach David Gussenhoven said. “We’ve also had a couple bowlers get into a slump — happens to all bowlers — that they are finally getting out of, and our team has had some great progress improving especially with our sixth and seventh bowlers.”

Another team that got back on track late was defending 4A district champion Pasco (6-8). The Bulldogs won three of their final four regular-season matches.

Richland (4-10) endured a seven-match skid before beating Connell (0-14) in Tuesday’s regular-season finale. Darby Miller, who earned an individual state berth last year and averaged a 157 this season, will lead the way for the Bombers along with Shyanne Thorne (163) and Rebecca Johnson (145).

This story was originally published January 27, 2016 at 5:51 PM with the headline "MCC bowlers get ready for district championships."