Area bowling teams to compete at bi-regionals

Three Tri-City area bowl-ing teams will hit the lanes for the next round of postseason play when they begin action at the state’s western bi-regional at Holiday Lanes in Bossier City Monday.
Morgan City’s and Ber-wick’s boys’ teams and Cen-tral Catholic’s girls’ squad all will compete Monday. Morgan City is the top-ranked squad in the boys’ western bi-regional, while Berwick is ranked No. 10. Central Catholic is the No. 7 seed on the girls’ side.
As the top seed, Morgan City (13-0) received a first-round bye and will face the winner of No. 8 Loyola Prep and No. 9 Central Lafourche at 1:30 p.m.
If the Tigers win that con-test, they will meet the winner of the No. 5 Alexandria-No. 12 E.D. White/No. 13 Benton-No. 4 Lafayette High winner at 3:30 p.m. for a shot to advance to the state’s final four, which will be held April 5 at All-Star Lanes in Baton Rouge.
Morgan City High School coach David Spinella said he felt his team lived up to his expectations for the team this year.
“We come out of a very, very strong district,” Spinella said. “We placed three teams from our district in bi-regionals. … Five total went. Three of them come from our district, so that’s (a) pretty strong district.”
Along with the Tigers, Berwick and No. 12 E.D. White all advanced from the Tigers’ district.
Because of the competition the Tigers have faced, Spinella said he feels his team is prepared.
“I think the boys are hun-gry,” he said. “They want it. “They had a goal from the beginning, and they know what they wanted from the beginning.”
Morgan City’s bowling team is led by Zach Stewart, who has a 205 average. The Tigers’ remaining five bow-lers are: Jonathan Spinella with a 193; Zach Aucoin, a 191; Devin Hidalgo, 179; Devin Mayon, 174; and Ryan Armond, 156.
Berwick will open bi-regional play at 11:30 a.m. when it faces No. 7 Teurlings Catholic. The winner will meet No. 2 Barbe, which received a first-round bye, at 1:30 p.m.
The Panthers are led this season by Abram Gilder with a 187 average. Berwick’s next five top bowlers are Ian Valdez with a 174 average; Kyle Valdez, 173; Lucas Landry, 166; Cameron Kelly, 160; and Micah Lodrigue, 153.
Other members of the Panthers’ bowling team are Scott Price, Cody Kapp and Luke Lodrigue.
Berwick High School coach Cole LeMay was not available for comment.
On the girls’ side, Central Catholic (11-2) will face No. 10 Benton in an 11:30 a.m. contest. The winner will meet No. 2 Holy Savior Menard, which received a first-round bye, at 1:30 p.m.
Central Catholic coach Ja-son Price said his team has performed well this year.
“They’ve stepped up,” he said. “Their practice has paid off, and hopefully, it can continue paying off with the great attitude that they’ve had.”
While he said he knew his team was going to do well, Price said going this far has been a surprise.
“With all the hard work that they’ve done, I’m actually pleased because they’ve worked really hard for it,” he said.
Team members are Emily Price, Ashley Daigle, Jolie Boudreaux, Juliana Hernan-dez, marina Duval, Ashley Mabile and Chloe Estay. Price leads the team with a 170 average, while Daigle is second with a 150 average. The team’s next top four bowlers are Boudreaux at 130; Duval, 117; and Mabile, 102.