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Photo by Erin Nelson.
Hewitt-Trussville’s Eko Burroughs throws the ball down the lane in the semifinals against Sparkman at Oak Mountain Lanes during the AHSAA State Bowling Championships on Jan. 29.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
Hewitt-Trussville’s Kyle Wright reacts after throwing a strike in the quarterfinals against Thompson during the AHSAA State Bowling Championships.
It looked as if the Hewitt-Trussville High School boys bowling team’s run at the Class 6A-7A state tournament was going to be a short one.
But at Oak Mountain Lanes on Jan. 29, the Huskies rallied from nearly 100 pins down in the final round, storming back to defeat Thompson 1,672-1,660 in the quarterfinals.
Thompson was the defending state champion and its first-round score of 1,660 was the second best of the eight teams in the quarterfinals.
“They didn’t bowl well [in the final Baker game] and they left the door open for us to come in, and we hit our shots,” Hewitt-Trussville coach Tommy Abney said. “We just started hitting and rode that emotional wave. It was an incredible game.”
Hewitt-Trussville’s season came to an end in the following round as the Huskies fell to eventual champion Sparkman 1,526-1,411.
The Huskies had two seniors in Kyle Wright and David Davis. Wright led Hewitt with a 243 in the quarterfinals traditional round.
“Being with David and Kyle for as long as I have, just the ride that we’ve been on together has been incredible,” Abney said.
Outside of the seniors, the Huskies have two sophomores and three eighth graders, all of which stepped up in support. Brodie Payne bowled a 205 in the semifinals and Eko Burroughs was critical at state as well. Tristan Atwood, Hunter Kyle and Tucker Wright will also be back for the Huskies next season.
“We’ve got a lot to look forward to,” Abney said. “We’ve got a bright future ahead of us. We’ve got a good program. We’re going to come back hopefully next year and take it a step forward.”
Hewitt-Trussville qualified for the state tournament by advancing to the semifinals of the North Regional tournament the week prior.
