Photo by Sarah Finnegan.
Sam Lawhon at the AHSAA State Bowling Tournament, where the Rebels finished second.
The bracket unfolded how it was intended to at the end, with the top-seeded Vestavia Hills High School boys bowling team taking on No. 2 seed Spain Park in the final of the 2017 AHSAA Bowling State Tournament on Jan. 27 at Oak Mountain Lanes in Pelham.
The Rebels even held a lead after the third of five games in the championship round, but fell to Spain Park, 1,036-899, as the Jags took home the state title for the second consecutive season.
In the final, the Rebels bowled a 205 in the first game, and held a seven-pin lead after three games. In that fourth game, Spain Park bowled seven consecutive strikes to take the lead on the way to a 258. The Jags held on comfortably in the final game to win the championship.
Vestavia began the day with a 1,050-638 win over Northview, followed by another relatively comfortable win, a 1,005-896 defeat of Thompson. East Limestone posed a challenge for the Rebels in the semifinals, but an impressive 246 in the third game propelled them to a 1,003-940 win.
Will Evans, Sam Lawhon, Travis Saunders, Barrett Blackwood, Boris Lu, Cameron Monistere, Beau Reed and Mason Maners competed for the boys team.
The girls team advanced to the quarterfinals after earning the No. 5 seed for the tournament. The Lady Rebels hung on to beat Auburn, 684-621 in the first round before falling to eventual state runner-up Hartselle, 755-707, in the following matchup.
For the Lady Rebels, the team included Dalton Benefield, E.J. Hardy, Mary Scott Israel, Mary Calloway Thomas, Alisha Budhwani, Samantha Ferguson, Haylee Jemison and Sydney Kirk.
The Vestavia boys team earned the top seed for regionals the week prior to the state tournament, but were upset in the quarterfinal round. The first-round win was enough to qualify for state, as the top eight finishers advanced. Vestavia’s girls advanced to the semifinals of regionals.
