William Blount bowls over Lenoir City
By Marcus Fitzsimmons | (marcusf@thedailytimes.com)
William Blount got exactly what it needed Monday at Crest Lanes. The Govs and Lady Govs bowling teams both picked up solid wins over Lenoir City in preparation for today’s season finale against Catholic.
“Everyone bowled really well today. I just had one that was struggling a little bit,” said WB coach Kerri Pigott. “You have good days and bad days, and he went down and worked on it, so we’ll see what the mindset is they have and bring for Catholic.”
The Govs took a 24-3 win over Lenoir City, which is also calling Crest Lanes home this season, along with WB and Heritage, as the Panthers get their program up and running. The Lady Govs followed suit with a 26-1 win in their match.
WB dropped one girls’ match in the first set but swept the rest while picking up the two points for the team pin count in all three rounds and the final three points for total pin count over the three rounds. The Lady Panthers were ceding three matches per round, which almost guaranteed the pin fall points were ceded as well, but even without much pressure, WB came through with steadily improving pin counts over the three games from its players.
“For having a relatively new team, they’re not bad right now. I’m certainly not complaining,” Pigott said of her WB strikers.
In the No. 1 boys’ spot, WB’s Will Hodgson kept raising his game, going 139-144-183 against Lenoir City’s Stephens, 234-166-158, who started hot but cooled off to drop the final game to Hodgson. Triston Stiles, Logan Rogers, David Bohling and Corey McDaniels swept their pairing over LC, while Dustin Purdy went 2-0 before Brandon Godfrey subbed in the final game. The Govs claimed all nine pin points available in taking the win.
After today’s 4 p.m. match with Catholic, the Gov bowlers will face the same challenge of self-motivation and dedication that is unique to the state’s prep bowling season — a month-long break between the end of the regular season and the start of the district tournaments. Complicating matters are the holiday breaks from school, which bring in family plans, travel and the lack of structure after school practice provides.
“When they’re not in school, we’re generally not allowed to have practices, but they can come and practice on their own,” Pigott explained. “Crest Lanes is very gracious and lets the players have a break if it’s during the week. I’ve got a couple that are dedicated and will be here and some that may not. It is what it is. We’ll have practice Monday, then go into the break and have a practice before the semifinals on Jan. 7.
“If you don’t bowl at least once a week, it’s like a lot of things. It’s hard to keep up your rhythm and your timing. If you take that long of a break and get lazy and lax, it’s tough to get back in the swing of things.”
Crest Lanes allows the prep bowlers to practice during the holidays as well as donating the lane time for the team practices and matches for all three high school programs.
