Bowling: Brother Martin, Vandebilt Catholic advance to boys semifinals

KENNER – The beat goes on for the five-time state boys bowling champion Brother Martin Crusaders.

The unbeaten and top-seeded Crusaders won three matches Friday at AMF All Star Lanes to clinch their eighth consecutive trip to the state semifinals.

No. 12 seed Vandebilt Catholic also qualified out of Friday’s action. The Crusaders and Terriers will meet in one boys semifinal Thursday at All Star Lanes in Baton Rouge, while the advancers from Monday’s action in Bossier City, No. 2 seed Catholic High and sixth-seeded Archbishop Shaw, will face off in the other semifinal.

Brother Martin easily dispatched of No. 32 seed Acadiana 27-0 and 17th-seeded Central 23-4 – the latter a rematch of the 2021 state championship – before facing a stern test from New Orleans region rival and No. 9 seed Jesuit in the quarterfinals.

The Crusaders (15-0) won five points in each of the first two games and then pulled away for a 20-7 victory over the Blue Jays (12-3). Brother Martin rolled a 3,903 team series, which included 14 games over 200, to Jesuit’s 3,705.

Dylan McDonald led Brother Martin against Jesuit with a 686 series, followed by Ricky Carmona’s 680 and Jacob Vangilder’s 673, including a 266 middle game.

Anchor Gary Sims paced Jesuit with a 668 series, followed closely by William Adams with a 667 set, Luke Wood’s 659 and William Carpenter’s 649.

For the second consecutive year, Jesuit failed to reach the semifinals with one of the top three team averages in the state, not because of lack of performance, but because of luck of the draw.

“These guys are the second-best team in the state,” Brother Martin coach Bruce Himbert said of Jesuit, speaking to both teams in a post-match huddle. Afterward, the two teams got together for a joint team picture – another sign of multiple friendships and mutual respect.

Jesuit reached the quarterfinals after a huge second-round performance in a 17-10 victory over No. 8 seed Dutchtown.

The Blue Jays won six points in each of the first two games and held off a Griffins third-game comeback.

Carpenter led Jesuit against Dutchtown with a 745 series of games of 246-245-254. Wood had a 703 series, including a 253 middle game, and William Adams had a 695, including games of 256 and 268.

Dutchtown sophomore anchor Preston West, who set a state record with a 238 average this spring, led the Griffins with a 743 series, and Ashton Nguyen was just behind with a 738, including a 279 game.

Jesuit had a 3,875 team series to Dutchtown’s 3,797.

In the opening round, Jesuit rallied from an early 5-3 deficit to defeat No. 24 seed Patrick Taylor – the only other New Orleans region team in action Friday – 21-6. Sims had a team-best 761 series on games of 256-268-237.

Preston Jones had an opening game 246 as part of a 587 series to lead Patrick Taylor (8-5).

Himbert substituted liberally in Brother Martin’s first two matches. In the second-round win over Central, Carmona had a 266 opening game, McDonald fired a 279 middle game that included the first nine strikes and Ashton Catalinotto had a 707 series on games of 216-257-234. Against Acadiana, Carson Colletti had an opening-game 274 as part of a 729 series.

In Dutchtown’s opening-round victory over Teurlings Catholic, the Griffins broke two state records and came within a whisker of a third.

Individually, Ryan Beam opened with games of 290 and 300 – the first perfect game in LHSAA postseason action since Brother Martin’s Cody Schaffer in 2017 – and set a state record for two-game series. He had a final game 188 for a 778 series.

Dutchtown fired games of 1,344-1,425-1,233 for a 4,002 team series, only the third series above 4,000 in state history and 10 pins shy of the three-game series set two years ago by Brother Martin. The two-game total of 2,769 did set a record previously held by the Crusaders.

Ochsner LHSAA Bowling Championships

Boys
Monday – at Holiday Lanes, Bossier City
First Round
(3) Denham Springs 23, (30) Airline 4
(14) St. Amant 18, (19) Southside 9
(22) St. Thomas More 20, (11) Captain Shreve 7
(6) Archbishop Shaw 21, (27) Haughton 6
(7) Central Lafourche 24, (26) St. Michael 3
(23) Alexandria 17, (10) Byrd 10
(15) Archbishop Rummel 14, (18) South Terrebonne 13
(2) Catholic-BR 19½, (31) East Ascension 7½

Second Round
(14) St. Amant 17, (3) Denham Springs 10
(6) Archbishop Shaw 20, (22) St. Thomas More 7
(7) Central Lafourche 21, (23) Alexandria 6
(2) Catholic-BR 18, (15) Archbishop Rummel 9

Quarterfinals
(6) Archbishop Shaw 22, (14) St. Amant 5
(2) Catholic-BR 23, (7) Central Lafourche 4

Friday – at AMF All Star Lanes, Kenner
First Round
(1) Brother Martin 27, (32) Acadiana 0
(17) Central-BR 24½, (16) Madison Prep 2½
(9) Jesuit 21, (24) Patrick Taylor 6
(8) Dutchtown 27, (25) Teurlings Catholic 0
(5) Hammond 20, (28) Loranger 7
(12) Vandebilt Catholic 22, (21) David Thibodaux 5
(13) Ponchatoula 23, (20) Baton Rouge 4
(4) Lafayette 19, (29) St. Paul’s 8

Second Round
(1) Brother Martin 23, (17) Central-BR 4
(9) Jesuit 17, (8) Dutchtown 10
(12) Vandebilt Catholic 19½, (5) Hammond 7½
(13) Ponchatoula 15, (4) Lafayette 12

Quarterfinals
(1) Brother Martin 20, (9) Jesuit 7
(12) Vandebilt Catholic 16, (13) Ponchatoula 11

March 31 – at All Star Lanes, Baton Rouge
Semifinals – 10:30 a.m.
(1) Brother Martin vs. (12) Vandebilt Catholic
(2) Catholic-BR vs. (6) Archbishop Shaw

Championship – 3:30 p.m.
Semifinal winners