The Bowling Bombers traveled to Rollhouse Lanes for the Back to School Bash hosted by Fairfield High School.  The Bombers would roll on the 2024 Sectional/District Oil Pattern: a 40 foot pattern with a 6 to 1 ratio.  The tournament consists of a 2 individual games and four baker games for seeding followed by a best 2 of 3 baker game format for all 32 teams.   The Bombers have rolled in the tournament only 4 times previously; finishing 14th in 2019, 15th in 2020, 4th in 2021, and 11th in 2022.  

In game one, Tyler Brown led the Bombers with a 237 game and Keegan Barbee added in his 209.  Brock Lusby and Brady Johnson added 195 and 182 for the Bombers while Aaron Bickford and Connor Cahill combined for a 146.  After one, the Bombers sat in 3rd with a 969 and Centerville leading at 1156 followed by Batavia with a 970.  

In game two, Keegan Barbee shot a team high series of 442 while shooting a 233 followed by Brock Lusby putting up a 236 for a 431 series and Tyler Brown completing a 425 series shooting a 188.  Connor Cahill rolled a 187 for the Bombers and Dimitri Panagis and Aaron Bickford rolled a 157 combined.  The Bombers were the only team to crack a 1000 in game two with a 1001 for a 1970 two game series pushing the Bombers into second place.  Centerville shot a 946 for a 2102 total and secure lock on the number one spot.  Batavia rolled a 902 for a 1872 to sit in 3rd.

The Bombers struggled in baker games one and two with games of 135 and 161 but finished strong with games of 225 and 215 for a 736 series, which was 4th highest among the teams.  The Bombers finished at 2706 and second place going into the playoff bracket.  Centerville shot an 873 for a 2975 total to lock down first place and Oak Hills shot a 731 for a 2571 to move into third place.  

In round one of bracket play, the Bombers would get the 31st place North College Hill Trojans.  The Bombers would beat the Trojans in back to back games by scores of 188 to 97 and 167 to 117.  The Bombers would then move on to face New Richmond who battled back to beat the Middletown Middies 3 games to 2.  In game one, the Bombers shot a 168 while Lions strung multiple strikes to throw a 189.  Down a game the Bombers battled back for a 185 to the Lions 137 to even the match.  The Bombers locked in during game three only throwing one open to finish at 217 while the Lions fell with a 177.

Moving into the round of 8, the Bombers matched up with the Lebanon Warriors who put down two Panther teams in back to back rounds beating Elder B in the first and GCL Rival Elder A in the second round.  The Bombers struggled in game one with 3 opens to put up a 185 while Lebanon threw a 161.  Spare shooting was still a concern with 2 more opens in game two and strikes hard to find as the Bombers rolled a 163 but it was enough as Lebanon shot a 146.  The Bombers moved on to the final four with Oak Hills, Clinton-Massie, who beat the number 1 seed Centerville Elks, and La Salle.  

In the semi-final match with Oak Hills, the Bombers struggled to find a clean game with 4 opens and rolling a 184 while Oak Hills had their own struggles on the broken down pattern shooting a 136.  In game 2, the Bombers rolled 6 strikes to put up a 194 to the Highlanders 166 to win and move into the finals.  The Bombers would bring a 6 baker game win streak into the finals against the La Salle Lancers.  

In an All-GCL Final, the Bombers bring a 192.2 baker average against the La Salle Lancer 192.4 baker average.  The Bombers and Lancers battled in game one with a 17 pin difference as the Bombers finished at 208 to La Salle's 191.  In game two, the Lancers came out hot throwing a 214 on the board to end the Bombers baker win streak at 7 with the Bombers throwing a 183.  In game three, the Bombers moved back to the left side of the lane, where they won 5 of their 9 games from on the day.  The Bombers closed the final 7 frames on their way to a 204 to beat the Lancers who shot a 191.  

Bomber Strength:

Across 16 baker games, the Bombers totals 75 strikes and 56 spares for a closed frame percentage of  77.5%.  Tyler Brown led the Bombers with 88.4% of all baker frames closed and Keegan Barbee closed 86.8% of his frames.  Keegan struck on 60% of the time in bakers.  

Record Performances:

This is the first Bomber regular season Tournament victory since the Big Blue Challenge in December 2015.  Connor Cahill crossed 5000 career pins for the Bombers, Brady Johnson surpassed 6000, and Tyler Brown passed 8000 career pins with their games today.  

Upcoming Schedule:

The Bombers play host to the Moeller Crusaders on January 9th and the Oak Hills Highlanders on the 10th.  The Bombers will then roll in the Lancer Baker Bash on Sunday the 14th.  The Bombers will then go on the road to travel to Oxford Lanes to battle Edgewood on the 16th and return to Northwest Lanes for a GCL tilt with the Lancers. 

Around the GCL:

The Moeller Crusaders beat Walnut Hills on January 4th.  The Bombers hold sole possession of first with a 5-1 record followed by the Lancers at 4-2, the Panthers at 3-3, and the Crusaders at 0-7.  Next week, the Bombers host the Crusaders while the Lancers host the Panthers.

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