By Susan Jenior

Staff Writer

The Rootstown Rovers hosted the team’s 20^th Sectional Preview Tournaments on Saturday and Sunday at Spins Bowl in Kent.

All teams bowled on the same pattern they will face in the OHSAA Sectional Tournaments this season.

On Saturday, the Twinsburg boys and the Boardman girls won the championship among the Division I teams competing as Chase Jonke of Tallmadge rolled the high series, a 702, and Boardman’s Kara McCutcheon and Hudson’s Audrey Goldslager tied for high series, tossing a 607 series each.

On Sunday, the Portage County teams rose to the top of the team standings as the Rootstown Lady Rovers and the Southeast Lady Pirates finished first and second respectively in the tournament girl’s division.

The Field Falcons bested the boys division.

Rootstown dominated the individual leaderboard as Caleb Stevens captured the high series, a 652 and Kaitlyn Hammerschmidt tossed a high game of 214 on her way to the second high series 496. Madison Knox, Akron Springfield, rolled the high series, a 597.

The Falcons bested Coventry for the championship by 189 pins while the Rootstown girls won by 186 pins, all close contests as the teams rolled three regular games and six Baker games, the same format as the OHSAA Sectional tournaments.

For the Falcons, Peyton Haver rolled the high series, a 597 with a high game of 214.

Southeast’s Emily Morrison rolled the high series for the Lady Pirates, a 444 including the high game for the runner-up team, a 178.

The tournament is always held over Martin Luther King weekend, on Saturday and Sunday. Teams are looking forward to the tournament next year but not, teams will seek to advance as far as they can in the OHSAA end-of-season tournaments.

KENT IN THE BAKER TOURNAMENT

Kent Roosevelt boys and girls teams traveled to the Eagle Challenge tournament on Sunday hosted by Rollhouse Lanes in Parma.

The all-Baker game challenge saw all competitors bowl four rounds of Baker games.

The Rough Rider boys and girls teams each finished 12^th in the tournament among 26 teams as the Kent boys finished with a 2,788 total and the Kent girls, competing against 16 teams knocked over 1,928 pins.

ROVERS VICTORIOUS

Prior to the tournament that Rootstown hosted this weekend, the Rover boys competed in two matches against Canfield and Berkshire.

The Rovers earned the victory over Canfield 2,111 to 1,694.

Bryce Harless led the Rovers with a 373 series and a 210 high game.

The Rovers followed that victory with a decisive win over Berkshire, 2,248 to 1,998.

Caleb Stevens rolled a 384 series as the best on the lanes for the Rovers. His series included a 227 high game.

OHSAA SECTIONAL TOURNAMENTS

The Division I and Division II OHSAA Sectional Tournaments are the first stop for teams seeking a berth in the state tournament at Columbus.

Portage County teams in Division II will start their journey at Spins Bowl in Kent with boys teams competing on Feb. 6 and girls on Feb. 9.

Teams included in the Spins Bowl, Kent sectional include: Crestwood, Field, Garfield, Ravenna, Rootstown, Southeast and Akron Springfield.

Both the boys and the girls tournaments start at 10 a.m.

Division I teams begin their efforts to land at the state tournament the following weekend as Ravenna, Kent Roosevelt and Streetsboro boys and girls teams travel to Roseland Lanes in Oakwood to compete on Feb. 15.

Ticket information will be available on the link for OHSAA Tournament Tickets prior to the tournament.