Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Hewitt-Trussville’s Nate Dodson during the boys AHSAA Class 6A-7A North Regional Tournament at Spare Time Bowling in Trussville on Jan. 18.
For the second straight year, the Hewitt-Trussville High School boys bowling team advanced to the Class 6A-7A state tournament semifinals.
This year, the boys were joined by the girls, as they also made it to the semifinals of the state tournament, held Feb. 1-2 at the Bowlero bowling alley in Mobile. The state tournament was delayed by a week due to the extreme winter weather conditions across north Alabama in mid-January.
The state tournament was contested over two days. On the first day, the teams bowl traditional games and are seeded for a single-elimination bracket by total pins. On the second day, teams play a best-of-seven series of Baker games — five bowlers each bowl two frames to make up one game — in a bracket format to determine a champion.
The girls tournament took place in the morning on the second day. Hewitt-Trussville started the day with a highlight, as the Huskies upset No. 2 Thompson 4-2 in the opening round.
The Huskies took the first two games 222-191 and 167-152 to take an early lead. Thompson claimed the third game 231-158, before Hewitt roared back to win 154-137. Thompson grabbed the fifth game 179-144 to narrow the gap, but Anna Abney’s strong 10th frame vaulted the Huskies to a 190-180 win in game six to clinch the match.
Sparkman defeated the Huskies 4-0 in the semifinal round. Stanhope Elmore defeated Sparkman in the championship match.
Deborah Stovall was the highest bowler for Hewitt’s girls, as she was 10th overall with a score of 520 on the first day of play. Julianna Nussbaumer scored 454 and Abney posted a 442. Evie Jones, Ainsley Rodgers, Sophia Shipman and Annie Georgia also competed for the Huskies.
Hewitt’s girls won the North Regional tournament, sweeping Parker and American Christian before beating Sparkman 3-1 in the final.
The boys tournament was played in the afternoon. Hewitt-Trussville was the top seed in 6A-7A, as the Huskies posted the top performance on day one of the tournament.
Stanhope Elmore gave Hewitt a stern test in the opening round of bracket play, though, as the match went the full seven games. Stanhope took a 2-1 lead, then Hewitt took a 3-2 lead. Finally, the Huskies won a decisive seventh game.
Thompson swept the Huskies in four games in the semifinals.
Nate Dodson was the top bowler for the Huskies in the traditional rounds, finishing fifth overall with a total score of 589. Carter Pannell posted a 583, with Tristan Atwood, Eko Burroughs and Luke Stutsman posting scores as well. Josh Dodson was also part of the team’s lineup in the tournament.
