The Girls Preparatory School, Rhea County girls’ and Tullahoma boys’ bowling seasons all ended Saturday morning in the TSSAA state semifinals in Smyrna.
GPS jumped to a 5-3 lead on Friendship Christian but lost 16-11. Tied at 8 with a 10-pin lead after two games, Friendship got the two-point bonus for game three with a 31-pin margin and the three-point overall bonus that made the difference in victory.
St. Agnes (15-0) then beat Friendship (13-2) 17-10 in the Division II girls’ final, while St. Benedict (17-2) defeated Christian Brothers 18-9 for the Division II boys’ title.
Hardin County won both Division I state championships, the 22-0 boys edging Smyrna (24-1) 14-13 and the 21-0 Hardin girls topping White House 20-7.
Hardin beat Rhea County (24-1) 24-3 in a girls’ semifinal. The highest score for a Rhea girl was Baylee Shipley’s 186 in game two, and the next highest were Elizabeth’s Deardurff 170 in game three and Millie Shadden’s 169 in the second game.
Kristin Brewer’s 153 was the Lady Eagles’ best in game one, when they fell behind 7-1 with a discouraging 230-pin shortfall.
Tullahoma (18-5) lost 19-8 to region rival Smyrna in a boys’ semifinal.
Smyrna led only 9-7 and by 38 pins after two games but turned up the heat in game three with five 200-plus games led by Josh Meeke’s 237, while the Wildcats’ best was Nolan Cardwell’s 178. They totaled only two 200s in the match, including Elijah Manderson’s 211.
The best scores for GPS (9-11) were Cora Long’s 159 and Tia Kemp’s 152 in game two and Sydney White’s 156 in the first game. But Friendship had only one score above 159, Brooke Eakes’ 176 in game three.