Undefeated Dutchtown earned the No. 1 seed for the LHSAA girls state bowling championship playoffs that will begin with the opening rounds next week.
While H. L. Bourgeois earned the top seed on the boys/coed side, Brother Martin, the four-time reigning champions earned the two seed, and while they will get to bowl in New Orleans, the Crusaders face a possible challenging bracket to the get back to the semifinals.
The top half of the boys/coed bracket will bowl three rounds on March 20 at Creole Lanes in Houma, while the bottom half of the 32-team bracket will roll on March 21 at AMF All-Star Lanes in Kenner. The 16-team girls bracket will bowl two rounds on March 22 at All Star Lanes in Baton Rouge.
The three days of bowling will culminate with four teams remaining in each division, setting up the semifinals and championship round at Premier Lanes in Gonzales on March 30.
Dutchtown, which qualified a state record 10 bowlers for singles, will face No. 16 Pineville in the opening round March 22. Nebraska signee Ashtyn Yoches leads the team with a 199 average (third in the state), with Sydney Lee at 190. On their side of the bracket is No. 5 Chapelle, led by Olivia Bares (193), whose only loss was to Dutchtown.
Reigning girls champion Denham Springs is the No. 6 seed and will face No. 11 Academy of Our Lady. Like Chapelle, their only loss was to Dutchtown. Gracie Dawson has the Yellow Jackets’ top average at 186 (seventh in the state).
Albany is the No. 3 seed and will face Airline, while No. 8 Ellender faces No. 9 St. Amant. St. Joseph’s Academy will face returning state finalist and No. 4 seed C. E. Byrd. The other multiple state champion in the field, Lafayette High is the seventh seed.
A late northwest Louisiana match had a great affect on the boys/coed bracket when Captain Shreve defeated Byrd. That moved Byrd down to No. 8 and put Brother Martin, No. 7 Jesuit and No 10 Denham Springs in the same quarterfinal with No. 11 Dutchtown also in the same half of the bracket.
Brother Martin’s only loss was to Jesuit; Jesuit’s only loss was to Dutchtown; one of Dutchtown’s two losses was to Denham Springs; and, Denham Springs’ only loss was to Brother Martin. If seedings hold, Brother Martin and Jesuit could bowl in the quarterfinals for the third straight year.
St. Amant received the No. 17 seed while No. 5 Shaw will face No. 28 Woodlawn. Last year’s finalists from Catholic High, the 12 seed, meet No. 21 David Thibodaux. East Ascension, one of the three undefeated schools in the division, is the No. 3 seed and will bowl against No. 30 Parkway of Bossier City. Denham Springs’ opening opponent will be No. 23 St. Michael the Archangel.
The finalists for the singles championship were also announced Monday with Preston West and defending champion Ryan Beam, both of Dutchtown, leading the way. West broke his own state record, averaging 238, while Beam averaged 223. Ashton Catalinotto of Brother Martin was third at 222.
Two girls posted 200 averages this year — Paris Mendones of Airline (215) and Jordan Wingerter of St. Joseph’s (204).
The state singles title will be decided on March 31 at All Star Lanes in Baton Rouge.
The complete playoff brackets are available at LHSAA.org.
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