Black Hills duo registers top-four finishes in Class 2A/1A girls bowling

Last week, Black Hills High School was one wobbling pin away from advancing its whole team to the Class 2A/1A girls bowling championships at Narrows Plaza Bowl.

So it was up to senior Grace Gibbs, and junior Mackenzie Theophilus to make sure folks around the state knew a little bit about Wolves’ pin-striking.

The Black Hills duo was certainly up to the challenge, placing in the top four in the individual session Friday.

Buoyed by a personal-high 256 score in the final game, Gibbs vaulted all the way up to second place (1,136) behind two-time 2A champion Brooklyn Boudreau, of Mark Morris (1,298).

Theophilus, the Southwest District runner-up last week, finished fourth at 1,097.

“It was really impressive how they came along, because it was a long season,” Black Hills coach Don Means said.

But a season that certainly can be used as a success story.

Black Hills was the best team out of the 2A Evergreen Conference, and came within eight pins of being one of the advancing programs out of a tough district tournament that included Columbia River and Mark Morris — who stand as the top two state-contending teams heading into the Baker game format Saturday.

Gibbs did not even hold the highest average on the Black Hills team — Elsa Means, the coach’s daughter, did. Theophilus was third on the team in scoring average.

“It shows we are really competitive,” Don Means said. “Our system is coming together nicely.”

Midway through last season, Gibbs was doing things her own way by throwing a “backup ball” — or a shot with inside-out movement.

The coaching staff implored that she change to the more traditional bowling style where her ball broke in a right-to-left direction. So. she switched to it.

“I got so much better in a short amount of time,” Gibbs said.

Gibbs placed eighth at the state tournament last season, and was on pace to finish around that slot heading into the final game.

But she rolled nine strikes in a row — and 10 total — to make a serious move up the leaderboard for a school-best finish.

“Hey, I was just happy to make it back to state,” Gibbs said.

Theophilus might have the brightest future of any of the Black Hills bowlers.

She boosted her average 30 pins this season, to a 170. She credits using a heavier 15-pound ball for her recent skyrocketing scores.

“I’ve been rolling it,” Theophilus said.

Then there are the Shelton Highclimbers, last week’s WCD runners-up whose home bowling lanes went up in flames a few years ago.

With 4,785 pins, they sit in fifth place in the Class 3A team race. But they closed out action Friday with an 873 team series — the best score of the round.

“Our motto all year has been, ‘Start strong, finish stronger,’ ” Shelton coach Dann Gagnon said. “And our girls., they never give up. To finish with a 873, I think that is our all-time high.”

Shelton’s Dreann Merriman was the highest local finisher in 3A with a six-game total of 1,082. Timberline’s Marisa Lindeke was 12th at 1,062, and Yelm’s Carley Johnson was 20th at 1,006.

This story was originally published February 2, 2018 at 8:21 PM with the headline "Black Hills duo registers top-four finishes in Class 2A/1A girls bowling."