Three area bowlers win state titles

[Pba Kid]

SMYRNA ??” Until this week, bowler Kimberly Hensley hadn??™t competed this season against another girl in a high school match.

 

That was until the start of the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association??™s individual state bowling tournament. On Friday, Hensley, a McGavock senior, showed she was the top girl bowler in Division I.

 

Hensley won the second annual individual tournament at the Smyrna Bowling Center, coming back from fifth place to win with 2,679 pins ??” 74 more than runner-up Hilary Bell of Soddy-Daisy.

 

???I had bowled against (girls in our region) from my freshman to my junior year. It was pretty much if you get 160, you beat her,??? said Hensley, who was forced to join her school??™s boys team this year because there weren??™t enough girl bowlers to field a girls team. ???Bowling with the guys, you??™ve got to have every pin.???

 

Middle Tennessee dominates

Hensley was one of three Middle Tennessee bowlers to win individual titles Friday.

 

Columbia??™s Michael Poirier won the Division I tournament with 3,027 pins to defeat defending champion Gary Faulkner of Germantown by 128 pins.

 

Poirier entered the final game with a 47-pin lead over teammate Travis Howell. Poirier then rolled a 209 and picked up 30 bonus pins for defeating Howell.

Faulkner won his game to overtake Howell for second.

 

???I wanted to win, but if Travis would??™ve have beaten me, I wouldn??™t have been upset,??? Poirier said. ???If a person from another team was up there, I probably would have been more aggressive.???

 

Pope John Paul II??™s Christina Calvo won the Division II girls title with 1,899 total pins ??” 247 more than teammate Hayley Pionk.

 

???I was pretty determined to get first after last year, when I got second,??? Calvo said.

McCallie??™s Alex Goss was the lone non-Middle Tennessee bowler to win. He defeated defending Division II boys champion Rand Woodson of Montgomery Bell Academy by 157 pins.

 

Six advance to team semifinals

Six teams from Middle Tennessee advanced to today??™s team semifinals set for 9 a.m.

 

Both Hendersonville??™s and JPII??™s boys and girls teams won their quarterfinal matches. Page??™s boys and Columbia??™s boys also advanced.

 

Hendersonville??™s girls came a pin short of tying the state record for most in a match.

 

The Lady Commandos had 3,333 total pins in their 24-3 win over Gatlinburg-Pittman.

 

On the boys side, Page upset White Station 18-9. White Station entered the tournament as one of the tournament favorites. Page faces Columbia today in an all-Middle Tennessee semifinal match.