The Great Bend Panther bowlers hosted a three-team invitational Thursday at the Walnut Bowl. The Panther boys swept Garden City and Holcomb, winning the meet 7-0. The Lady Panthers went 4-0 in regular competition, but dropped all three Baker’s games to Garden City. Great Bend won 4-3 and the Lady Buffaloes finished at 3-4. Both Holcomb squads finished the day at 0-7.
Great Bend boys 2414, Garden City 2243, Holcomb 2102
Panther junior Dakota Conaway had the best series of the day, rolling games of 219, 215, and 225 for a 659 series. Conaway pulled off the high-score despite open ninth frames in each of the first two games. Right behind him, co-captain Eric Ruiz bowled games of 213, 22, and 185 to finish with 620 pins n the day.
“From the beginning, the two captains, Eric and Dakota, were striking and had the top two games in game one,” said Panther coach Mike Perry. “They just keep everybody positive.”
Daniel Herrman had the only other 600-series, rolling games of 180, 189, and 235 to finish at 604. Mark Lang rounded out varsity scoring with a 527 series. Kolt Ramey and Jeff Meitler also bowled for the varsity, finishing at 466 and 460 pins, respectively.
“Daniel, Dakota, and Eric really stepped up and they were the leaders,” Perry said. “It seemed like when we needed a big shot they were the ones who got it. That relaxed someone else and they’d get a big shot. It was just nice to have three guys who were really doing well, then one of the other guys would step up. It was a great team effort.”
Juan Ramirez led the Buffaloes with a 559 series. Ramirez used five strikes in the first six frames of game two to finish with a team-high game of 216. He edged out teammate Theron Kells, who bowled a 208 in the middle game to finish with a 558 series. Avery Turner finished with 537 pins, and Skylar Connor finished with a 194 game and 520 series. Kieran Henderson bowled for the varsity team, finishing with 507 pins, and Jarett Landgraf rolled a 477 series.
“We’re such a young team this year,” Garden City coach Kip Nichols said. “We lost five starters from last year’s state tournament team. We’re young and we had some kids who started the season but are not with us any longer. They were making good contributions early on. We’re rebuilding and doing the best we can with what we’ve got. We’ll get better.”
Holcomb’s Caleb Stewart had the fourth-best series of the day at 563 pins. He used games of 202 and 207 to reach that score. Gavin Swann started the day with a team-high game of 216 before finishing with a 550 series. Chris Foreman rolled a 512 series, and Corey Roth rounded out scoring with a 475 series. Andrew Walck and Bryce Schuetz also bowled, finishing with 407 and 398 pins, respectively.
Great Bend girls 2247, Garden City 2127, Holcomb 1688
The Lady Panthers cruised through the regular competition, winning each game and the series totals. Sophomore Miranda Hejny had the only 600 on the girls side, rolling a 207, 192, and 204 to finish with 603 pins.
“Mirada continues to be a rock,” Perry said. “She’s been struggling this year. She’s just not found her A-game yet. It’s not the end of the season yet and she’s working to it. She struggled tonight but still bowled the series-high for all three teams.”
The other Great Bend scorers each surpassed the 500-pin mark. Jacy Quade finished with a 527, Erin Bowers rolled a 524, and Maddie Roach finished with a high-game 224 to wind up with a 503 series. Kelli Kirmer came up just short at 494 pins, and Sterling McAllister had a 481 series.
“It wasn’t that long ago we were happy to have 500 series,” said Perry. “Now, we’re pushing for mid-500s to 600s.”
Garden City’s Vickie Newell had the second-best series of the afternoon at 590 pins. She also just missed the game-high with a 223 in her third game.
“Vickie had a career- day,” Nichols said. “That was the best series of her career. We tried to work with her this week and tried to get her to slow her tempo down. That really paid off for her today.”
Sarah Ramsey was the only other Lady Buffalo to reach 500 with a 508 series. Rikkie Hemmert nearly got to 500 at 496, and Alexa Hemmert was not far behind at 486 pins. Jennifer St. Clair had a 461 series, and Carey Watters knocked down 456 pins.
Hayley Walck led Holcomb with a 195 in game three, and a 483 series. Allie Knoll rolled a 417 series, Morgan Wagner a 385, and Brittney Underwood a 383. Chelsea Wagner and McKenzie Becker also bowled, finishing at 338 and 322, respectively.
Baker’s competition
The Great Bend boys used games of 255, 186, and 243 to sweep the Baker’s competition and move to 7-0 on the day. Garden City had games of 195, 164, and 215. The Longhorns bowled a 139, 181, and 187.
“We try to be around 200,” said Perry. “That’s basically going strike-spare all the way across with a clean game. We don’t want any opens and that will get us a 200. We just happened to get lucky and string six or seven strikes in the first game. It was the same way in the third game.”
The Garden City girls swept their side with games of 195, 197, and 203. Great Bend finished at 176, 160, and 181. Holcomb rolled a 109, 168, and 103.
“It was a good team effort,” Nichols said. “I worried about how they’d react coming out of the three-game set without winning any of those points. They seemed to get it together and shot well on the Baker’s and we were able to capture those three points.”
Great Bend and Garden City have one more week of competition before the Western Athletic Conference meet in Liberal. The Panthers boys lead Dodge City by six points, and the Lady Panthers hold a five point advantage heading into that tournament that will feature 21 points.
“I don’t think any team is going to (win all 21 points),” said Perry, “but we just need to make sure we’re in a position where we can stay in first place.”
