Headed to State: Five Coast bowling teams looking to ace title match

Five Coast high school teams will take aim on winning a state bowling championship on Thursday in Jackson.

Harrison Central, D’Iberville and St. Martin will compete for the Class II boys bowling championship while D’Iberville and Gulfport will compete for the Class II girls bowling championship.

In last week’s South Regional, Harrison Central won the boys championship while D’Iberville finished as the runner-up. St. Martin qualified for the eight-team state tournament as a wild card.

D’Iberville took the South Regional girls title while Gulfport finished second.

Teams open play on Thursday in Jackson.

Harrison Central

“This is our second year doing this, and we won (the region) in our second year,’’ Harrison Central junior Cam Patterson said. Patterson had an average score of 229 in four games in the regionals. “I know if we bowl together and are in sync, no one can stop us.’’

Patterson leads a Red Rebel squad that includes Christian Eadie, Diep Nguyen, Hunter Hammontree, Braxton McCready and Brett Hughes.

D’Iberville

“It’s louder more at state than here,’’ D’Iberville senior Joe Spiers said. Spiers has bowled a 300 game although it was not during high school competition. He leads a lineup that includes Alex Nguyen, Vinnie Nguyen, Nick Nguyen and Jakob Shelton.

St. Martin

“I do know some people up there, and I know they are pretty good at bowling,’’ St.Martin sophomore Ryan Fiorentino said. “We can definitely compete with them this year.’’

Fiorentino bowled a 278 at the South regional and leads a Yellow Jacket lineup that includes Jayden Nguyen, Chris Trieu, Chad Callugari and Thomas Nguyen.

D’Iberville girls

“We’ve gotten a lot better than we were at the beginning of the year,’’ D’Iberville junior Samantha Stanfill said. Stanfill has bowled a 258 this season, and helped Neshoba Central High School win a state girls bowling championship in 2015.

Her teammates include Alexa Landenberger, Angela Nguyen, Caitlin Heigle and Franchesca Nguyen as D’Iberville makes its second straight state tournament appearance.

Gulfport girls

Junior Allison Rivers leads a strong Gulfport girls team that returns to the state tournament for a second straight season. She averaged 189.33 in matches only. Her teammates include Jayden Bishop, Erin Davis, Caroline Forrest, Devyn Alexander, Karen Wong and Samantha Rutland.

“We’ve had this same group together for three years,” Gulfport coach Kevin Peterman said. “I think we are in the running for (a state title). I expect good things out of them.”

Harrison Central beat D’Iberville head-to-head in a best 3-of-5 “baker” to decide the South region title. In a baker, the No. 1 bowler bowls in the first and six frames, the No. 2 bowler in the second and seventh frame, the No. 3 in the third and eighth, the No. 4 in the fourth and ninth, and the No. 5 in the fifth and 10th.

“We got hot at the right time,” Harrison Central coach Wesley Strickland said. “That’s the first time we’ve beaten them (D’Iberville) head to head this year. It’s really exciting for our guys to step up. We improved our scores by over 30 pins from this year to last year.”

D’Iberville also beat Gulfport head to head in a baker in the South Regional girls tournament.

Other boys teams in the state tournament are Neshoba Central (North), Starkville (North), Clinton (Central), Madison Central (Central) and Desoto Central (wild card).

Other girls teams in the state tournament are Neshoba Central (North), Starkville (North), Madison Central (Central), Clinton (Central), Tupelo (wild card) and Desoto Central (wild card).

This story was originally published February 14, 2017 at 9:28 AM with the headline "Headed to State: Five Coast bowling teams looking to ace title match."