While Niki Bell's four-strike finish spectacularly assured Soddy-Daisy High School of the Region 3 girls' bowling championship Tuesday, spares were the difference overall.
"We just missed a few easy spares," Walker Valley's Lauren Smeltzer said after the Lady Mustangs' 16-11 loss in the region final at AMF Tri State Lanes.
By virtue of a 45-point win that decided the final three points, the Lady Trojans will host Blackman High from Murfreesboro in a sectional match Saturday at Holiday Bowl Hixson, probably at 2 p.m., according to Soddy-Daisy coach David O'Malley Sr. His boys' team also won, 21 1/2 to 5 1/2 over Central, and will host Lawrence County on Monday.
Walker Valley's girls (12-2) and Central's boys (15-5) will visit Region 4 champion Columbia Central with berths in next week's TSSAA state tournament in Smyrna on the line. Walker Valley defeated Sequatchie County 18-9 while the Lady Trojans (13-1) were downing McMinn County 24-3 in the semifinals.
"That was too close," O'Malley said after the girls' final. "We were down 6-2 after one game, but then we got them 6-2. That second game made our girls believe they could win, but Walker Valley was throwing the ball pretty well."
Bell scored 214 and 204 in her last two games, while teammate Kylee Saunders went 212 and 201. Sara Merritt joined them on the all-region squad with an opening 221, while Smeltzer led the Lady Mustangs with a 6-0 day that included series of 583 and 582. She was all-region along with Samantha Pope, who beat Bell with a 208 first game.
"Picking up spares was the key to this match," said Walker Valley coach Dean Anderson, whose team hosted a sectional last year. "They picked up more than we did."
Central got to its first region final and sectional in bowling by defeating the Sequatchie boys 16-11 while the Trojans (17-0) were downing Bradley Central 19-8.
"We're extremely proud of them," Central coach Jerry Allen said of the Purple Pounders. "They played their hearts out. We got off to a slow start but got better as the season went on."
Central's Chris Evans and Vance Williams joined the Soddy-Daisy trio of Andy Holden, Allyn Pickett and Matt Lyon on the all-region team. Evans had a 600 final series while Lyon had a 681 and Holden totaled 434 in the first two games before Adam Gravitt subbed for him and added a 255. Pickett had a 704 series against Bradley.
Soddy-Daisy trailed 5-3 after one game against the Bears, who totaled 3,487 pins in their semifinal defeat. The Trojans' totals Tuesday were 3,674 and 3,643.
"We came to a different house and bowled a really good team with the potential to beat us, and we were kind of intimidated in that first game," said the Trojans' sole senior, Wesley Williams, who closed with a 246 and a 227. "Then we made some adjustments and just let the ball roll.
"You do better when you quit thinking about winning and just start bowling."
The Trojans had four scores above 210 in their first game against Central and five above 200 in game two.
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