Bowling: Shaw, Catholic win three matches to reach boys semifinals; other early rounds postponed

Sixth-seeded Archbishop Shaw and No. 2 seed Catholic High each won three matches Monday to advance to next week’s boys semifinals of the Ochsner LHSAA State Bowling Championships at Holiday Lanes in Bossier City.

The Eagles (14-1) defeated Haughton, St. Thomas More and St. Amant to advance, while the Bears (14-1) topped East Ascension, Archbishop Rummel and previously undefeated Central Lafourche to move on.

The other two semifinalists were scheduled to be decided on Tuesday, but because the forecast for severe weather has closed schools in several parishes across southeast Louisiana, LHSAA officials have postponed the early rounds of the upper half of the bracket until Friday at AMF All Star Lanes in Kenner.

Shaw reached the semis with a 22-5 victory over St. Amant in the quarterfinals.

The Eagles got big performances from its left side to jump to a 6-2 lead with a 174-pin edge after one game, as John Paul Bui had a 211 and Josh Collins a 210 in the opening game. Shaw took another six points in game two and closed it out with a 7-1 effort in game three.

Catholic, led by Benjamin Herman’s 650 series, reached the semifinals for a second consecutive year after defeating Central Lafourche 23-4.

Both New Orleans-area teams that made the five-hour trip to Bossier City got off to good starts.

Shaw opened with a 21-6 victory over Haughton. The Eagles, who led 7-1 after one game and 13-3 after two, were consistent on the right pair as Jonathan Arena fired a 604 series, Garrett Alello a 569 and Jonathan Freeman a 563.

Rummel held off a late surge by South Terrebonne to defeat the Gators 14-13 in the opening round.

The Raiders led 7-1 after one game and 12-4 after two but South Terrebonne, led by Tony Bella’s 259 game, fired a final game 1,160 to not only win total pins in the third game, but overtake Rummel’s edge in overall total pins.

Rummel got the two points it needed from match victories by Matthew Delaune at No. 1 and Matthew Fletcher at No. 4.

Hayden Cantillo led the Raiders with a 576 series, followed by Fletcher’s 554.

In the second round, Shaw rolled past St. Thomas More 20-7, clinching the match after two games, while Rummel took a first-game lead over Catholic before the Bears rallied for an 18-9 victory.

Freeman opened with a 242 and Arena had a second-game 229 as Shaw built an insurmountable 14-2 lead after two games.

Led by Ben Mayer’s 255, the Raiders led 5-3 after the first game. The Bears rallied for a 9-7 lead after two, then fired a 1,205 final game – led by Mark Mills’ 235 – to clinch the match.

Cantillo had a team-best 595 series, including a final-game 235, to lead Rummel in the second round.

The upset of the second round was St. Amant’s 17-10 victory over previously undefeated and third-seeded Denham Springs.

Two lower-seeded teams won in the opening round, and surprisingly, the co-champions from the Shreveport region were eliminated as No. 22 seed St. Thomas More knocked off Captain Shreve 20-7 and No. 23 seed Alexandria eliminated Byrd 17-10.

Shaw and Catholic will meet in one of the two boys semifinals on March 31 at All Star Lanes in Baton Rouge.

Ochsner LHSAA Boys Bowling Championships

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
(postponed from Tuesday, weather and school closures)
First Round – 10:30 a.m.
(1) Brother Martin vs. (32) Acadiana
(16) Madison Prep vs. (17) Central-BR
(9) Jesuit vs. (24) Patrick Taylor
(8) Dutchtown vs. (25) Teurlings Catholic
(5) Hammond vs. (28) Loranger
(12) Vandebilt Catholic vs. (21) David Thibodaux
(13) Ponchatoula vs. (20) Baton Rouge
(4) Lafayette vs. (29) St. Paul’s

Second Round – 1:15 p.m.

Quarterfinals – 3:15 p.m.