Bowling: DeSales Stallions boys, girls teams eye successful season

All else aside, DeSales girls bowlers treat their practices and matches like they’re participating in their favorite sport with three old friends.

Having only four girls on the team puts additional importance on routinely scoring well, but winning a second consecutive CCL championship and earning Division I district and state tournament berths were higher on the priority list when the season began.

“I tend not to think of (turnout) because if I dwell on that, it ruins my game and then it ruins everyone else’s. It is what it is,” said sophomore Sadie Bassitt, the Stallions’ second-leading scorer last season at 167.1 pins per game. “Without a fifth bowler, it’s OK. We’re just here to have fun. If we win, we win. If we lose, we lose. We’ll practice and learn and get better.”

Junior Alexis Reynolds and sophomores Cailin Mascarin and Hunter Messmer round out the team. Messmer is a first-year bowler.

All four attended St. Matthias School before coming to DeSales.

Bassitt’s 335 series led the Stallions in a season-opening 1,228-1,105 win over Marion-Franklin on Dec. 2 at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl. Six days later against Columbus West and Ready at RollHouse Entertainment Columbus, Reynolds’ 303 series paced the Stallions to a team score of 1,362, ahead of the Silver Knights (1,179) and Cowboys (933).

“When they get here, they’re here with a purpose to win,” said Connie Emlich, DeSales’ assistant coach who oversees the girls team while fourth-year coach Miranda Singer primarily works with the boys. “I tell them what to do, like remembering to hit their marks and working on their spares, but I remind them to have a good time. That’s why they’re here. Their bowling well is a bonus. …

“The camaraderie and stuff are still there. They’re all willing to listen and do what I ask them to do. It’s just worked out very well. We all know our score might not be what it’s been because of having four girls, but they’re trying hard and that’s what makes it nice.”

All of last year’s primary contributors are back but one for the boys team, which went 8-3 but fell short of COHSBC-D Division and CCL championships and tied for 18th at sectional, two spots shy of advancing to district.

Nonetheless, senior Andy Karas said the team isn’t necessarily motivated by “unfinished business.”

“Yes and no,” said Karas, from Westerville. “It’s one of those things where we have some football guys (Patrick Anderson, Jalen Carpenter and Luke Trejchel) and they know about unfinished business and stuff, but we’re not trying to dwell on the past too much and remember the struggles. We’re just trying to move on and have our best season this year.”

dpurpura@thisweeknews.com

@ThisWeekDave

BEECHCROFT

•Coaches: Boys — Katie Ross, third season; Girls — Daphne Hess, first season

•Top athletes: Boys — Dylon Feagin and Devin Strouse; Girls — Tiwa Adediran, Fatmata Barrie, Indago Feagin, Nia Hooper and Samira Peppers

•Key losses: Boys — None; Girls — Promise Alfred, Jakierah Kinard, Taaliyah Palmer and Ciarra Reeder

•Last season: Boys — 1-4 overall; Girls — 2-3 overall

•2020-21 finishes: Boys — Ninth in COHSBC-C, 43rd at sectional; Girls — Tied for fourth in COHSBC-C, 32nd at sectional

•Outlook: Hess, who also is the boys tennis coach at Beechcroft, has taken over as girls bowling coach. Matt Bell coached that program the last three seasons but is now Northland’s boys coach.

Reeder, who was a Division I district qualifier last season, was lost to graduation.

Adediran, a junior, is the top returnee for the girls team, and seniors Barrie and Hooper and freshmen Indago Feagin and Peppers also are key competitors.

For the boys team, Dylon Feagin, a senior, and Strouse, a sophomore, are the top returnees. Senior J.V. Velasquez has returned after not competing last season.

•Quotable: “The boys have had so much fun playing together over the years, formed such great bonds and have enjoyed watching each other improve.” — Ross

—Jarrod Ulrey

DeSALES

•Coach: Miranda Singer, fourth season

•Top athletes: Boys — Patrick Anderson, Nick Gillian, Andy Karas and Caden Lester; Girls — Sadie Bassitt, Cailin Mascarin, Hunter Messmer and Alexis Reynolds

•Key losses: Boys — Bryan Ritzler; Girls — Skyla Blumenscheid and Ella Otu-Danquah

•Last season: Boys — 8-3 overall; Girls — 8-2 overall

•2020-21 finishes: Boys — Sixth in COHSBC-D, tied for second in CCL, tied for 18th at sectional; Girls — First in COHSBC-D, first in CCL, 18th at sectional

•Outlook: Lester, a junior who averaged 203.8 a year ago, leads a veteran boys group seeking its fourth CCL championship in five seasons and a second Division I district title in three years. He is the only remaining bowler from the 2019-20 team that finished 14th at state.

Seniors Karas (170.8) and Anderson (161.5) and sophomore Gillian (155.7) also are returnees. Seniors Stephen Stalnaker and Luke Trejchel also were in the top six to start the season.

With only four bowlers on the girls side, junior Reynolds and sophomores Bassitt, Mascarin and Messmer will comprise the lineup the entire season barring late additions. Bassitt’s 167.1 average last season was second only to 2021 graduate Blumenscheid (173.1), who made state as a sophomore.

•Quotable: “Last year, we were really, really good and all we can do is try to run that back and do even better. … It’s exciting. We weren’t at our greatest at the end of last season, but we still have our chemistry and everything we need to be great.” — Karas

—Dave Purpura

NORTHLAND

•Coaches: Boys — Matt Bell, first season; Girls — Peggy Holley, 13th season

•Top athletes: Boys — Kevin Bell, Lorenzo Craig and Ray Craig; Girls — Sustika Ahangkari, Nasia Bailey, Arpana Chhetri, Benisha Gurung, Bidya Kharel and Juliane Lukambo

•Key losses: Boys — Trejuan Pitts, D.J. Pratcher and Husam Sesay; Girls — None

•Last season: Boys — 8-1 overall; Girls — 8-2 overall

•2020-21 finishes: Boys — Second in COHSBC-C, 37th at sectional; Girls — Second in COHSBC-C, 25th at sectional

•Outlook: The girls team has returned its entire lineup and the boys team has returned its top two competitors from a year ago.

Junior Ray Craig and his sophomore brother, Lorenzo Craig, averaged 192.3 and 179.2, respectively, in COHSBC matches to lead the boys team.

Kevin Bell is a sophomore and freshmen Ricky Phu and Ryan Volosky are among a group of newcomers under first-year coach Matt Bell, who took over after Robert Pea led the program for 13 seasons.

The girls team is led by Bailey, a senior who averaged a team-best 144.4 per game in COHSBC matches last season, and Ahangkari, a junior.

Other returnees are Chhetri, who is a senior, and juniors Gurung, Kharel and Lukambo.

•Quotable: “We had three or four weeks of preseason practice and it’s been going wonderfully. I’ve got two veterans and six rookies. It’s been fun.” — coach Bell

—Jarrod Ulrey

WATTERSON

•Coach: Kelly Bishop, second season

•Top athletes: Boys — Peter Assaf, Quinn Brown, Jack Kish, Nick Maliwesky, J.D. McMonagle and Blake Tippett; Girls — Melissa Montgomery, Joy Packard, Katie Whitsett, Natalie Zesch and Zoe Zeyen

•Key losses: Boys — None; Girls — Hannah Ashmore, Rachel Reuter and Christina Rose

•Last season: Boys — 0-12 overall; Girls — 5-6 overall

•2020-21 finishes: Boys — Tied for seventh in COHSBC-D, fifth in CCL, 40th at sectional; Girls — Fourth in COHSBC-D, fourth in CCL, 24th at sectional

•Outlook: Seniors Kish and Assaf were the boys team’s top bowlers last season when they averaged 180.8 and 165.9, respectively, and the team also has been boosted by the addition of freshman Maliwesky.

Brown and Tippett are seniors and McMonagle is a junior who also are key competitors for the boys team, which went winless last season but split its first four matches this year. Junior Michael Zesch also is looking to contribute.

For the girls team, sophomore Montgomery is a newcomer who led in average at 149.7 through six games.

Packard is a senior who was third on the team in average last season. Whitsett and Zesch are junior returnees and Zeyen is a junior newcomer.

•Quotable: “The boys were (0-12 last year), so we’re already starting off better. They’re definitely more motivated and happier when they win, which is to be expected. The girls team has got a couple of new girls, but one of them (Montgomery) bowls outside of high school, so she’s familiar with it.” — Bishop

—Jarrod Ulrey

WHETSTONE

•Coaches: Boys — Doug Kohler, second season; Girls — Christine Jonard, second season

•Top athletes: Boys — Ethan Clawson, Owen Hostetler, Benham McCarter, Xavier Millington-Fuqua, Abram Normand and Derek Skinner; Girls — Mia Kain, Olivia Koester, Stella Thompson and Haley Woolever

•Key losses: Boys — Max Gonsiska; Girls — Jillian Clark and Mia Howard-Stevens

•Last season: Boys — 3-4 overall; Girls — 1-4 overall

•2020-21 finishes: Boys — Eighth in COHSBC-C, 36th at sectional; Girls — Tied for seventh in COHSBC-D, 34th at sectional

•Outlook: There are 11 boys and nine girls in the program.

Millington-Fuqua is a senior who did not compete last winter but has been one of the boys team’s top bowlers to begin the season. Normand and Hostetler are junior returnees. McCarter and Clawson, who are juniors, and Skinner, who is a freshman, also are among those looking to contribute.

For the girls team, Thompson did not compete last winter but has returned after being one of the top competitors as a sophomore. Woolever is a senior and Kain and Koester are juniors who also are key returnees.

Sophomore Kendall Howard-Stevens and freshmen Amelia Lothrop, Stella Geis-Moffitt, Emika Norris and Christen Russell are others hoping to crack the lineup.

•Quotable: “I’m not the bowling expert, but it’s a pretty exciting game when you’re out watching it. The kids are enjoying it. It’s a good, fun atmosphere and pretty interesting compared to some of the other sports I’ve coached. While you’re competing, they’re cheering each other on.” — Kohler

—Jarrod Ulrey

This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Bowling: DeSales Stallions boys, girls teams eye successful season