With less than two weeks remaining in the Heartland Athletic Conference high school bowling season, action among the top teams is really starting to heat up despite the cold and snowy conditions outside.
Right now, every game and every match is crucial.
Only the top four teams and the top 18 individual averages from the HAC in both boys and girls qualify for the Eastern PA Championships, held March 5-6 at Berks Lanes and Bowl-O-Rama in the Reading area.
The drama and the urgency is felt in both boys and girls. There are currently five teams vying for the top four spots in each league.
For the boys — Midd-West, Selinsgrove, Milton, Shikellamy, Mifflinburg — in that order, are the top five teams. And only three games separate them all.
Through the first 28 games of the season the Mustangs, the defending HAC regularseason champs, lead the way with a 17-3 record.
With a lot of games left to play, a big reason for Midd- West’s early success is the play of junior Josh Snyder, who ranks in the top 10 in all three offensive categories. His season highs are a 267 game (6th), 707 series (3rd), and 203 average (7th).
Selinsgrove is close behind at 19-5, while Milton and Shikellamy are tied for fourth with 20-8 records. In fifth place and on the outside looking in at this point is Mifflinburg, but not by much. After a slow start to the season, the Wildcats have played better of late to stand at 19-9.
Mifflinburg’s season and a postseason berth will come down to the Wildcats’ final match of the year, when they play Shikellamy at Strike Zone Lanes on Feb. 13.
Chris Mullany, a junior, leads Mifflinburg.
Mullany is tied with Shikellamy senior Jake Snyder for the top game in the conference (279), and the Wildcat also have a 703 series (4th) and a 196 average (13th).
Jake Snyder leads the HAC with a 219 average and has the second-best series (742). Milton junior Cody Milheim has the top series (747).
The competitiveness on the boys side is also reflected in the averages.
Right behind Jake Snyder in scoring is Milheim (216), Mifflinburg senior Wes Doebler (215), and Midd-West senior Channing Bowers (214). The next three are Selinsgrove seniors Dustin Colburn (206) and Brian Conrad (204), plus Josh Snyder.
On the girls side, Shikellamy is beginning to run away towards its sixth consecutive regular-season conference title. The Braves are 26-2 and have a six-game lead over Midd-West (16-4) and Mifflinburg (20-8).
The fourth and final postseason berth is up for grabs between Selinsgrove (15-9) and Milton (15-13), but the Seals have more games left to play and are in a better position to get the fourth spot.
However, the Black Panthers are one of the surprises in the conference this season despite not having a single bowler in the top 10 in any of the three offensive categories. The team went 3- 29 a year ago and was picked to finish last in the preseason predictions.
At Shikellamy, there is little surprise that the Braves have several bowlers among the conference leaders. Shikellamy sophomore McKensie Haines has the best game (300) and series (715), in addition to the second-best average (209). Teammate Shelby Derr has the third-best game (259), second-best series (680), and the top average (215).
Also for the Braves, senior Danielle Bordner is 8th in the conference with a 245 game, 7th with a 636 series and 8th with a 187 average; and sophomore Evelyn Pehowic is 8th with a 613 series and 10th with a 184 average.
The HAC Invitational, held at Lewisburg Lanes on Feb. 20, is just for bragging rights, but it will serve as a tune-up for the Eastern PA Championships, from which the top six teams and top 12 individuals for both boys and girls advance to the PA State Championships held later in March.
WEEKLY BESTS Men: There are three honorees this week. Bill Ashton recorded his 7th career 300 game and had a 725 series in Strike Zone’s Thursday Men’s League. Dan Naugle had a 783 series and a high game of 270 in Best Bowl’s Thursday Night Men’s League. Finally, Jake Snyder threw a 290 game in Strike Zone’s Junior League last week.
Women: Karen Walter takes this week’s honor after an impressive performance in Best Bowl’s Monday Night Ladies League. Walter, a 2006 graduate of Selinsgrove High School where she was a standout bowler, rolled games of 236, 279 and 246 to finish with a 761 series.
Until next week, stay out of the gutters.
-- Brian Holtzapple is a correspondent who covers bowling for The Daily Item. Email comments, questions and results to keglerskorner@dailyitem.com.
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