The Hastings Banner — Thursday, April 1, 2021 — Page 17sports
Frosh rolls at Finals for
GLAC champion Vikings
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
It wasn’t much of a season and yet it was
quite a season for the Lakewood varsity bowl-
ing team.
The Vikings won their fourth Greater
Lansing Activities Conference boys’ bowling
championship in their six seasons as a pro-
gram and capped off the 2020-2021 season
with freshman Phillip Butler making into the
match-play bracket at the Division 3 Bowling
Finals at JAX60 in Jackson Saturday.
Butler had a fourth-place individual region-
al finish at the Division 3 Regional Tournament
at Northway Lanes in Muskegon March 19 to
earn his spot in the state finals along with the
other top ten bowlers from the event. At JAX
60 Saturday, Butler placed fifth among the 60
bowlers in the state singles competition to
advance to match-play along with the rest of
the top 16 from the morning.
Butler rolled games of 170, 212, 188, 213,
222 and 208 in the qualifying round, finishing
with a total score of 1,213. He was one of just
five freshmen who qualified for the D3 state
singles competition, and the only one to finish
higher than 35th in the qualifying rounds at
the finals.
Livonia Clarenceville junior Jacob Johnson
surpassed the 200 mark in all six of his quali-
fying round games and went into the match-
play bracket as the top seed thanks to his
overall score of 1,324 and went on to win the
state singles championship. He rolled a 206
and a 190 in the finals to best Belding junior
Trenton Altman’s 179 and 194 games.
Butler was bested by Michael Deming, a
senior from Boyne City, in the first round of
the 16-man bracket. Butler rolled games of
203 and 163 while Deming scored a 221 and
a 213. Deming was even better in the quarter-
finals, but was bumped from the bracket in the
end by Johnson in the semifinals by just three
pins. Johnson survived that semifinal match-
up with games of 204 and 203 while Deming
rolled a 213 and a 191.
“He is a freshman, and he made a really
nice appearance for himself,” Lakewood head
coach John Kutas said of Butler.
“I probably met him when he was seven or
eight years old I think.,” Kutas added. “He
just lives for bowling. He is a two-hander and
he studies the game. He still has some learn-
ing to do, but at his age he has an extremely
good understanding of the game that is for
sure.”
He had some very good upperclassmen to
roll with throughout the season. The Vikings
were 4-0 in their GLAC match-ups this win-
ter, pulling out 16-14 and 19-11 wins over the
defending conference champions from Olivet
and a pair of 25-5 wins over Leslie.
“We didn’t really hang any magnificent
scores. We were just steady and outlasted
everybody,” Kutas said.
Lakewood won the match-up with Olivet
on the road 16-14 to open the season, splitting
the two regular games and the two Baker
games. It was an outstanding 234 Baker score
in the final round of the afternoon that clinched
the win for the Vikings.
The second dual with the Eagles, at Buddy’s
on the Beach, was even closer despite thefinal tally of 19-11. The Vikings pulled out the
last Baker game by a single pin to avoid end-
ing the afternoon in a 15-15 tie with the
Eagles.
“They just never panic,” Kutas said of the
boys and girls on his roster. “They never got
excited. They just knew in their hearts, you
cold just listen to them and watch them, they
just knew that they could win. That was their
attitude. They’re a pretty reserved group.
They’re not very boisterous. They just stay at
it and keep grinding and just always, always
figured that they could win.”
There were three stand-out teams at the
Vikings’ Division 3 Regional in Jackson. The
Belding team that won the regional champi-
onship finished with a total score of 3,
[adding up the scores of four games by five
bowlers]. Portland was second at 3,422, qual-
ifying for the team state finals along with the
Black Knights. Muskegon Orchard View was
third at 3,416. The Vikings were right in the
mix with the rest of the pack, placing seventh
in the field of 17 teams. Lakewood put togeth-
er scores of 778, 809, 768 and 810 for a total
pinfall of 3,165.
Kent City was fourth at 3,186, West
Catholic 3,180 and South Christian 3,
ahead of the Vikings. Three other teams
behind the Vikings surpassed the 3,100 point
total to round out the top ten at the regional:
Comstock Park (3,156), Unity Christian
(3,109) and Wellspring Prep (3,108)
Lakewood senior Luke Stoneman and
sophomore Drew Marquoit weren’t far behind
the top ten singles state qualifiers from the
event. Stoneman placed 14th with a total pin-
fall of 706 and a high single game of 209 to
close out the tournament. Marquoit was
17th with a total score of 676. Marquoit, who
coach Kutas said had an average of right
around 150 for the season, was much better at
the regional with games of 172, 185, 162 and
157.
“[Stoneman] had a great year,” Kutas said.
“He averaged a little over 170, 172 or some-
thing I think, and he was a team captain this
year. He is one of those kids that you can kind
of build a program around. He has been with
us for four years and has some nice leadership
qualities. He was really just a nice kid to have
a part of our program.”
The last of the singles state qualifiers at the
regional was Orchard View sophomore
Konner Maus who had a total score of 732.
Lakewood got each of its top six bowlers
involved at the regional. Sophomore Avery
Davis and junior Brenna Klaver combined for
a 66th-place score of 574 [splitting up the four
games between them. Junior Zayda Kruger
and Klaver combined for an 82nd-place score
of 421 as well.
The two state qualifying teams from the
regional in Jackson, Belding and Portland,
both earned spots in the match-play bracket at
the team finals in Jackson Friday (March 26),
but were knocked out in the quarterfinal
round.
Grass Lake bested the Raiders in the quar-
terfinals and went on to win the Division 3
Boys’ Team State Championship with victo-
ries over Napoleon in the semifinals and
Boyne City in the championship final.Colts shoot DK boys out of D3 state tournament
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
Comstock only surpassed the 60-point pla-
teau twice during the 2020-2021 varsity boys’
basketball regular season, against over-
matched foes from Calhoun County Christian
and Mendon.
The Colts upped their offensive output one
more time to open the state tournament, scor-
ing a 67-40 win over visiting Delton Kellogg
in the Division 3 District Semifinals at
Comstock High School Thursday. The Colts
hit 12 three-pointers in the win.
“We had not seen Comstock play that well
on the offensive end,” DK head coach Jim
Hogobooom said.
“[Comstock head coach Josh] Beeke said it
was the best they had played all year, and I
would say it was our worst performance of
the year,” Hogoboom added. “That is a tough
way to end the season. However, I would take
my guys any day and really appreciate the
effort they brought everyday to practice.
These five seniors will be missed as they have
shown growth, leadership, and character all
year long during a difficult season to stay
focused and positive with all of the unknownsand variables this season has brought.
“There are good things in their futures and
good things ahead for Delton basketball.”
Senior center Cole Pape, who has plans to
play football at Davenport University next
season, finished his varsity basketball career
with a 15-point effort.
Comstock got 21 points from Israel
Patterson and 18 from Kyle Mortimer, who hit
four threes. The Colts moved their record to
10-4 with the semifinal win.
Alex Whitmore and Austin Blocker tied for
the DK team lead with seven rebounds each.
Blake Thomas chipped in two points, five
assists and six rebounds.
DK closes the season at 4-11.
Kalamazoo Christian defeated Hackett
Catholic Prep 54-37 in the other semifinal at
Comstock High School Thursday and then the
Comets knocked off the Colts in the district
final, 50-47, Saturday afternoon.
Kalamazoo Christian is set to face
Southwestern Athletic Conference Valley
Division foe Schoolcraft in a Division 3
Regional Final at Bronson High School
tonight after both teams won regional semifi-
nal match-ups Tuesday.Delton Kellogg senior center Cole Pape gets by Comstock’s Dalton Wilkins during
their Division 3 District Semifinal ballgame at Comstock High School Thursday. (Photo
by Perry Hardin)
Delton Kellogg junior Hayden Walker
shoots a jumper over Comstock’s Alden
Whitmore in the paint during the second
half of their Division 3 District Semifinal
ballgame at Comstock High School
Thursday. (Photo by Perry Hardin)