Boy bowlers win 1st county crown

Oxford’s bowling teams both had a successful weekend at the Oakland County Bowling Championships, held Jan. 14 and 15.

The boys bowling team was crowned Oakland County champions Saturday at Astro Lanes in Madison Heights, qualifying second after three team games and four baker games.

Waterford Kettering took first that night.

Oxford beat Hazel Park, Farmington Harrison in overtime and North Farmington to advance to the finals against South Lyon.

Oxford would win game 1 by 15 pins, but trailed going into the final frame of the second game.

The Wildcats got a break when the South Lyon anchor man opened and Christian Cartner tossed three perfect strikes to win the title by four pins.

Tanner Cartner was Oxford’s top bowler in the qualifying with games of 219, 264 and 201.

Tanner and twin brother Christian Cartner finished in the top 10 for series. Christian had games of 247, 221 and 204.

“The entire team pitched in today, whether in the qualifying or in the championship round,” said Head Coach JR Lafnear. “Without the outstanding bowling of Will Fallon and Luke Meyer in the championship round we (wouldn’t have stood) a chance. Jimmy Demhal had a great qualifying round and Dean Peterson was tough in the Championship round. I’m happy for this group they have been working hard and really deserved this championship.”

This was the first Oakland County title for Oxford Bowling.

On Sunday, The Wildcat Ladies Bowling team visited Cherry Hill Lanes in Clarkston for the Oakland County Bowling Championships, bowling games of 891, 992 and 956 and gathering the second seed going into the four baker games.

The girls averaged 180 for four baker games and ended up seeded second to Lake Orion.

Round 2 was total pins for two baker games. Oxford beat Marian in round 1 and Walled Lake Central in round 2 before they matched up with a tough Farmington Harrison team in the final 4.

Oxford beat Harrison by 35 pins in game 1 and ran away with the victory in game with a season-high game of 256. Waiting on the other side of the bracket was Waterford Mott. Mott handed Lake Orion a loss in the final 4 match.

Oxford made a couple mistakes early in the first game and was down 35 pins going into game 2. Mott sealed the deal by beating Oxford 225 to 199 in game 2.

Oxford finished as runner-up in the 29-team field.

“The girls had a terrific day today. Even though we finished second, we beat some quality teams and bowled well,” Lafnear said.

“We had three girls in the top 10 of series with Megan Kessler at 584, Claire Sandstorm at 582 and Abby Pappas at 572. Abby had a 235 and Claire had 243 to also medal in the top 10 games. How can we complain about that? I’m proud of the effort they put out and thrilled with the results.”

Overall, the girls team is 5-0 and the boys team is 6-0.

Both teams will face Farmington at Collier Lanes Jan. 12 at 4 p.m.

 

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