Brother Martin, Chapelle draw high seeds in LHSAA bowling brackets

Defending state champion Brother Martin and unbeaten Chapelle are the highest-seeded teams from the New Orleans area in the state bowling playoffs.

The Crusaders are seeded No. 2 in the 32-team boys bracket, while the Chipmunks are the top seed in the 16-team girls bracket released Monday afternoon.

As part of a new format introduced this year, bowling is following the lead of other LHSAA sports and has seeded the bracket on power ratings, which like other sports, are based on match wins and losses and strength of schedule. Previously, teams had competed in regionals and bi-regionals based on geographic areas to determine the final four teams.

Now, the top half of the bracket – including No. 1 seed Central of Baton Rouge – will bowl next Monday at AMF All Star Lanes in Kenner to determine two of the semifinalists. The bottom of the bracket, which is led by Brother Martin, will bowl March 26 at Acadiana Lanes in Lafayette.

All of the girls bracket will be at All Star Lanes in Baton Rouge. The first and second rounds will be held March 28.

The eight semifinal teams – four boys and four girls – will return to Baton Rouge April 4 to determine a state champion. The individual medalists will be crowned the following day, with the top 80 boys and top 48 girls from around the state competing.

Brother Martin (12-0), which completed a sixth consecutive unbeaten regular season last week and is seeking a fourth state title, trailed Central in the power ratings by .83 points. The Crusaders and Central Lafourche were tied for second in the power ratings, but the Crusaders were awarded the No. 2 seed and Central Lafourche is seeded third.

Brother Martin and No. 6 seed Jesuit (11-1) will bowl their early-round matches in Lafayette, while No. 13 seed Archbishop Shaw (10-2), 21st-seeded Archbishop Rummel (9-3) and No. 25 seed Holy Cross (8-4) will remain in Kenner.

Brother Martin opens with No. 31 seed Berwick and Jesuit faces Acadiana in 10:30 a.m. matches on March 26. The winners bowl again at 1:30 p.m., and those winners advance to 3:30 p.m. quarterfinal matches.

The day before, Shaw faces Madison Prep, Rummel takes on Haughton and Holy Cross meets Airline in opening-round matches at 10:30 a.m.

Central, fourth-seeded Dutchtown and No. 5 seed St. Paul’s are the top-ranked teams competing in Kenner.

Chapelle (12-0) is joined by No. 8 seed and defending champion Academy of Our Lady (10-2) and No. 14 seed Cabrini (8-3) in the girls bracket.

Chapelle faces Teurlings Catholic, AOL meets Central Lafourche and Cabrini takes on third seed Parkway in opening-round matches at 1 p.m. March 28. The winners advance to quarterfinal matches at 3 p.m.

Chapelle, which defeated AOL twice in a five-day span during the regular season, would meet in the quarterfinals. The Chipmunks and Penguins have the two highest-average lineups in the state.

BOYS GIRLS