Brother Martin, Academy of Our Lady advance to LHSAA bowling semifinals

WATCH THE BI-REGIONAL REPLAY:

KENNER – For Brother Martin, it’s familiar territory. For Academy of Our Lady, it’s a maiden voyage.

The Crusaders are headed to the state bowling semifinals for the fifth consecutive year and the Penguins reached the semis for the first time in school history after each recorded a pair of victories in the New Orleans bi-regional Tuesday at AMF All Star Lanes.

Also qualifying for the state semifinals on Tuesday were Catholic High and the East Ascension girls. The semis and finals in both the boys and girls brackets are April 5 at All Star Lanes in Baton Rouge.

Top-seeded Brother Martin, which has not lost a regular season match in five years, defeated No. 8 seed St. Amant 23-4 in its opening match before eliminating fifth-seeded Holy Cross 19-8 to reach the semis.

The Crusaders had a 3,829 team series against St. Amant and 3,650 against a Holy Cross team that defeated Ponchatoula 17-10 in the opening round and rode the momentum of a thrilling 14-13 victory over East Ascension into the final match.

“We bowled well against St. Amant and they didn’t quit,” Brother Martin coach Bruce Himbert said. “I told the team in the beginning of the first game (against Holy Cross), ‘let’s weather the storm.'”

Himbert offered a tip of the cap to Holy Cross, who took more points off the Crusaders in the final match than any team this season.

“Bowling nine games in a day is tough,” he said. “I’m really proud of them.”

In the win over St. Amant, Jonathan Fernandez shot a 759 series on games of 257-279-223, while Drew Gardner turned in a 685 set and Brennan Brouilette a 615. Will Oertling paced the Crusaders against Holy Cross with a 659 series, followed by Fernandez’s 641 and Brouilette’s 636.

Bryan Arena led Holy Cross with a 621 series against Brother Martin, while Gavin Mays contributed a 605 set. Arena had a 605 series and Mays a 596 against East Ascension

Brother Martin’s last loss was in the 2017 semifinals to Vandebilt Catholic at specially constructed lanes at the River Center in Baton Rouge – a match that snapped a three-season, 49-match winning streak.

Now, the Crusaders head back to the capital city to face another Houma-area team, H.L. Bourgeois, next week in the semis.

“We thought about everything that happened 52 weeks ago,” Himbert said. “They all know what we did last year, and I think that’s going to fuel the fire even more.

“We’re not going to bowl an easy team. H.L. Bourgeois is impressive.”

Catholic, which knocked off Holden 21.5-5.5 in a matchup of unbeatens, will face Central Lafourche in the other boys semifinal match.

AOL, a regular in the bi-regionals in recent years, fell one match short of the semifinals a year ago when it was eliminated by eventual state champion St. Scholastica. The Penguins finally got over the hurdle Tuesday by defeating a pair of New Orleans-area rivals – Cabrini (23.5-3.5) and Archbishop Chapelle (21-6).

“We’ve been on the cusp for so long,” said AOL coach Robert Chauvin, whose team shot a season-high 3,078 series against Chapelle. “Since the end of last year, they dedicated themselves to getting better and stronger and working together as a team.

Senior Erin Burkart, who will head to Mount St. Mary’s next year on a bowling scholarship, led the Penguins with a 610 series, including a 231 opening game, as AOL posted its third win over Chapelle this year. Danielle Poussard had a 581 set.

Jessica Ladd paced Chapelle with a 585 series, including a 208 final game. The Chipmunks reached the quarterfinal match after a 19-8 victory over Albany in which Chapelle’s top three bowlers – Bailey Hymel, Ladd and Sarah Rubi – all had series above 550.

Chauvin substituted liberally against an undermanned Cabrini team. Burkart had games of 222 and 200 to lead the Penguins in the first-round win.

Second-seeded East Ascension claimed the other semifinal berth ended the repeat hopes of St. Scholastica with a 22-5 victory. The Spartans will face H.L. Bourgeois in one semifinal match on April 5, while AOL meets Terrebonne in the other semi.

Shaw and Jesuit, the other two boys teams from the New Orleans area who qualified for the bi-regional, each won opening-round matches before falling in the second round.

The No. 6 seed Eagles topped Dutchtown 21-6 and trailed Catholic 9-7 after two games before the Bears swept the final game and the three-point total pins bonus for a 20-7 victory.

Gage Perrin had a 653 series and Cadence Chesterman a 632 to lead Shaw in the victory over Dutchtown. Perrin had a 662 set and Chesterman a 602 against Catholic, which fired a 3,733 team series against the Eagles.

The Blue Jays, seeded 10th in the bi-regional, dominated No. 7 seed 23-4 before losing 23-4 to Holden.

Alex Barron had games of 231 and 222 in the win over St. Paul’s while Jake Stiegler fired a 257 game.

Holden, which like Brother Martin received a first-round bye, shot 3,755 against Jesuit. Trent Greco had a 632 series, Steigler a 606 and Alex O’Neil had games of 209 and 208 for the Jays.

The higher seed won 15 of the 18 matches on Tuesday, a vast difference from the other bi-regional Monday at Holiday Lanes in Bossier City, where seven of 11 boys matches and four of eight girls matches were won by the lower-seeded team, which produced a No. 3, No. 6 and two No. 9 seeds advancing to Baton Rouge.

In addition to the final team matches, a separate state championship singles event will be held for the first time on April 6, also at All Star Lanes in Baton Rouge.

New Orleans Bi-Regional
Tuesday at AMF All Star Lanes, Kenner
Boys
First Round
(8) St. Amant 22, (9) St. Michael 5
(5) Holy Cross 17, (12) Ponchatoula 10
(4) East Ascension 19, (13) Central 8
(10) Jesuit 23, (7) St. Paul’s 4
(6) Archbishop Shaw 21, (11) Dutchtown 6
(3) Catholic 24, (14) Lee 3
Second Round
(1) Brother Martin 23, (8) St. Amant 4
(5) Holy Cross 14, (4) East Ascension 13
(2) Holden 23, (10) Jesuit 4
(3) Catholic 20, (6) Archbishop Shaw 7
Quarterfinals
(1) Brother Martin 19, (5) Holy Cross 8
(3) Catholic 21.5, (2) Holden 5.5

Girls
First Round
(1) Academy of Our Lady 23.5, (8) Cabrini 3.5
(4) Archbishop Chapelle 19, (5) Albany 8
(3) St. Scholastica 21.5, (6) Central 5.5
(2) East Ascension 23.5, (7) Denham Springs 3.5
Quarterfinals
(1) Academy of Our Lady 21, (4) Archbishop Chapelle 6
(2) East Ascension 22, (3) St. Scholastica 5

Semifinals/Finals
April 5 at All Star Lanes, Baton Rouge
Boys
Brother Martin vs. H.L. Bourgeois, 11 a.m.
Catholic vs. Central Lafourche, 11 a.m.
(Semifinal winners meet for championship at 1 p.m.)
Girls
Academy of Our Lady vs. Terrebonne, 11 a.m.
East Ascension vs. H.L. Bourgeois, 11 a.m.
(Semifinal winners meet for championship at 1 p.m.)