Bowling: Brother Martin, AOL open quests for “three-peats” as season begins Monday

The Brother Martin boys and Academy of Our Lady girls successfully defended their state bowling championships last April.

The quest for three in a row begins Monday when the regular season opens for teams throughout the state. The Crusaders face St. Augustine at Colonial Lanes in Harahan while the Penguins cross the river to meet Crescent City Christian at AMF All Star Lanes in Kenner.

Both teams will field new-look lineups in 2020. Brother Martin lost four starters, including individual state champion Cody Schaffer, while AOL had five starters depart, including their high-average bowler, Danielle Poussard.

However, both teams’ strength in their championship seasons has been their depth, which could help them overcome the losses.

Junior Drew Gardner moves into the anchor position for Coach Bruce Himbert’s Crusaders, who are looking to become the first Louisiana program to win five state championships.

Archbishop Rummel, which lost to Brother Martin in last year’s final, returns its top bowler from a year ago, Ruben Gendron.

On the girls side, Archbishop Chapelle – which was the No. 1 seed in last year’s tournament but was eliminated by AOL in the quarterfinals – has its top two bowlers back in Jessica Ladd and 2019 individual state champion Sarah Rubi.

Other New Orleans-area individuals to watch include Adam Atkins, the reigning state match game champion who gets his first opportunity to bowl a high school schedule for East Jefferson, and Alahna DeGruy, who will again anchor Bonnabel’s co-ed squad.

Teams bowl 12 regular-season matches over the next two months, usually on Mondays and Thursdays. Matches begin at 3:35 p.m.

The early rounds of the state tournament are March 23-25, with the semifinals and finals in both the boys and girls brackets scheduled for April 2 at Premier Lanes in Gonzales.

Prep Bowling
Monday’s Matches
at Westside Lanes
Archbishop Shaw vs. East Jefferson (boys)
Salmen vs. Chalmette (boys)
Chalmette vs. Cabrini (girls)
at Colonial Lanes
St. Augustine vs. Brother Martin (boys)
at AMF All Star Lanes
Mount Carmel vs. St. Therese (girls)
Academy of Our Lady vs. Crescent City Christian (girls)
Crescent City Christian vs. Jesuit (boys)
Bonnabel vs. Holy Cross (boys)
Patrick Taylor vs. Archbishop Rummel (boys)