West Jessamine will be represented in the inaugural KHSAA Bowling State Championship later this month in Louisville.
At the 8th Region tournament this past weekend in Richmond, the girls’ bowling team was region runner-up. The Lady Colts fell to Fleming County in the championship.
West and East were seeded second and third, respectively, in the team bracket, and both received first-round byes.
The Lady Jags defeated Montgomery County in the second round (152-83, 98-100, 150-110, 147-124) to advance to the semifinals.
The Lady Colts met Lee County in the second round and defeated the Lady Kats in six games (126-161, 120-109, 128-98, 107-107, 133-152, 131-91). The win put West in the semis against rival East with a trip to state on the line.
East won the first game 120-96, but West swept the final three by scores of 138-129, 159-121 and 123-103 to advance to the region championship.
In the championship, the Lady Colts were swept in three games by Fleming, 61-125, 157-152 and 160-131.
West’s Kaitlin Duff qualified as an individual as well. She placed fourth overall with a pin total of 823.
After three games, she had a score of 545 (183-172-190) to advance to the semifinals. In her semifinal games, Duff rolled a 140 and 138 to get the No. 4 seed in the stepladder finals. Duff knocked off No. 5 seed Cheyenne Rison of Clark County 179-136 but came up short against No. 3 Sarah Flora of Fleming County 188-147. Flora, Taryn Wallingford and Jasmine Barbee, all of Fleming County, took the top three spots in the region.
West’s Casey Crawford got off to a strong start in her first game with a 189 but then rolled a 148 and 144 to be in seventh place heading into the semifinals. In her fourth and fifth games, she rolled a 151 and 173, respectively, giving her an 805. She missed the finals by one pin.
Allison Kash had the best finish of East Jessamine girls’ bowlers with a 404 (137-144-123) after three games.
Duff and the West girls’ team will compete at the state bowling championships March 22 and 23 at Executive Strike and Spare in Louisville.
Boys
West Jessamine’s Dustin Stapleton will be the lone Colt and male bowler heading to state from the county.
Stapleton placed fourth overall with a pin total of 1,017.
He put together a 595 total for his first three games, rolling a 181-211-203; He was tied for sixth heading into the semifinals.
Stapleton rolled an even 200 in his first semifinal game and followed up with a 222 — his best game of the day.
His strong fifth game pushed him into the No. 4 seed heading into the stepladder.
In his first game against Kyle Barhart of Rowan County, Stapleton earned a 202-192 win to advance. In the second round, he upset No. 3 seed David Whitson of Fleming County, 208-190. In the semifinals of the stepladder, No. 2 Nathan Doyle (also of Fleming) edged Stapleton 220-202. Doyle would lose in the finals to Joe Bryant of Lee County.
Conner Welch also had a strong showing for West, totaling 579 pins in three games.
Nicholas Lindsey had a three-game total of 567 — the best finish for an East Jessamine bowler in the boys’ regional.
Stapleton will compete at the state bowling championships March 22 and 23 at Executive Strike and Spare in Louisville.
East and West as teams placed third and fourth, respectively, as Montgomery and Fleming took first and second and earned trips to state.
As the No. 3 seed, the Jags played Lee County in the second round after a first-round bye. After losing the first game 199-150, East rallied and won the final three by scores of 182-162, 183-136 and 201-138.
The Jags fell to No. 2 seed Montgomery County in the semifinals (189-125, 158-194, 214-150, 154-211 and 181-132).
The Colts were able to dispatch Madison Southern in four games in the quarterfinals (198-167, 162-175, 179-139, 181-161) to face Fleming in the semis.
West won just one game against the Panthers (215-167, 154-188, 188-179, 205-169).
Overall, East finished third and West was fourth.
