UNIVERSITY PLACE — The high school bowling season wasn’t over for even 30 minutes Saturday before the Evergreen Plainsmen started thinking about next season.
The Prairie Falcons are excited about 2017, as well.
“It’s really frustrating, taking second,” Evergreen’s Shannon Bliquez said. “But being so close means we’ll want it so much more next year.”
Evergreen bowled its best Baker game of the day on the last Baker game of the day at the Class 4A state girls bowling championship but it was not enough to overtake Wenatchee for the team title.
The Panthers, who were in first place by 39 pins going into the 14 Baker games, held off Evergreen by 25 to take home the title. Wenatchee totalled 7,473 pins in the two-day event. Evergreen scored 7,448.
Evergreen was not the only Clark County team to earn a trophy.
Prairie started and finished the day in third place in the Class 3A championship. The Falcons ended up with 7,207 pins. Hanford won the championship with 7,548.
The 4A team race had more drama at the top. Evergreen never caught Wenatchee but also never fell out of striking distance. The Plainsmen always knew where they stood but tried not to let that information get them down.
“I was just focusing on making good shots and keeping our heads in it,” Bliquez said. “I knew anything could happen.”
All seven Plainsmen bowled during the day: Kerissa Andersen, Jillian Marston, Bliquez, Drei Plumb, Jessica DuFrain, Dakota O’Neil, and Alexis Henderson.
“It was incredible,” Bliquez said. “It was much more than just winning. We came here to win, but it was mostly team bonding. I have never experienced anything like this before.
“We’re so loud, and we’re so fun.”
Skyview finished in fifth place.
Hanford took a big lead into Saturday’s 3A championship and cruised to the win over Everett.
Prairie had to battle to keep third place.
Wilson took over third place after the 11th Baker game but the Falcons responded with a 213 in Game 12.
“It was just so amazing. We needed that to get back our spot,” junior Bella Ogle said. “We were really happy. Everyone was screaming at the top of their lungs. We needed that exact push.”
The Falcons weren’t done. They posted a 202 in the final game of the day. All seven Falcons bowled Saturday: Caitlin Moore, Tia Fisher, Amber Sparks, Madi Bash, Hannah Berrigan, Tori Evenson, and Ogle. Not a senior on the team.
“It just proves to ourselves that we can do this. We are a very young team. Getting third as just juniors and sophomores means so much,” Ogle said. “Next year we can go big, further, and better.
“We had so much fun.”
Hudson’s Bay, which won league and district titles, finished fifth at state.
