The W.F. West girls bowling team completed their fourth straight 2A Evergreen Conference league championship by defeating Aberdeen at Rainier Lanes in Aberdeen Tuesday night. This is the third undefeated league season out of the last four for the Bearcats, who only lost one league match during that stretch.
The Bearcats steamrolled their way to victory, defeating the Bobcats 2052-1476 in total pins. The Bearcats used seven different bowlers to get the win.
"It was a great night for our program and it was a team effort," coach Don Bunker said. “We managed to go undefeated in league while giving every bowler in our program a chance to bowl on varsity this season."
In game one the Bearcats were led by Clara Bunker's 182 game and Piper Chalmers' 234 game.
"Rainier Lanes is always a tough shot in that first game of the night," Bunker said. “They open early for us and it always takes a game for the building to warm up which makes it a tough lane condition."
The Bobcats were led by Toby Jelinick's 167 game.
In game two the lanes started to warm up and so did the Bearcats by scoring 933 total pins to the Bobcats' 614 total. Clara Bunker led the way with a 231, Savannah Hawkins rolled a 199 and Savanna Hoyt-Siler shot a 187.
The Bearcats finished off the night by defeating the Bobcats in both Baker games and again scored over 2000 total pins for the match. Freshman Noelani Hafoka starred in the first Baker game by crushing two strikes right in the pocket.
"Lani is going to be a star for us in the future,” Bunker said. “She comes from an athletic family and is picking up bowling fast.”
Up next for the Bearcats is the District 4 tournament next Wednesday at Westside Lanes in Olympia. District 4 comprises some of the best teams in the state from the EvCo and the Mount St. Helens Leagues. Only three of those teams out of 13 will earn a shot to bowl at the state championship meet.
"Our district tournament is tougher than the state tournament," Bunker said. "The top-three finishers at state have come out of our district for the last decade. There are seven-to-eight different teams this year in our district that have what it takes to win the state championship. The district champion is going to come down to who gets hot at the right time."
