By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Campbell County claimed Northern Kentucky’s first state championship in girls high school bowling on Friday after coming from behind to win its final three matches in the 16-team tournament bracket at Executive Strike & Spare in Louisville.
The Camels, coached by Josh Hitt, lost their first game in the quarterfinals and fell behind 2-1 in the semifinals before pulling out wins in both best-of-five matches to reach the championship final against Cooper.
Campbell County bowling coach Josh Hitt and his daughter, Kaylee, with the state championship trophy. (Photo by Nicole Hitt)
Cooper won the first game, 189-183, but Campbell County won the next three, 183-159, 199-147, 193-136, to capture the state title that eluded the Camels last year when they lost to Pleasure Ridge Park, 3-0, in the state championship match.
The roster on this year’s Campbell County team includes Tatum Audas, Abigail Bartels, Savanaha Cloyd, Catherine Deaton, Kaylee Hitt, Heather Jackson, Mariah Mcalister, Jadyn Taylor, Ashley Turner and Kayla Watkins. In their single-elimination matches, five bowlers alternated frames in each game.
In the qualifying rounds, five-time state champion Pleasure Ridge Park had the highest pin total to earn the No. 1 seed, followed by Harrison County, Campbell County and Cooper. All four of those teams made it to the semifinals in the single-elimination bracket where Cooper upset Pleasure Ridge Park, 3-0, and Campbell County rallied to beat Harrison County, 3-2.
It was the first time in the nine-year history of the state bowling tournament that two Northern Kentucky teams reached the championship finals in either the boys or girls bracket. Campbell County won Region 5 to qualify for the state tournament and Cooper was Region 6 champion.
The Cooper team roster includes Breana Brandt, Jade Combs, Jenna Elgowsky, Zoe England, Danielle Lense, Annette Nichols, Elyse Sergent, Alexis Tignor and Ranelle Ulanday. They are coached by Joe Deters.
In the first round of the girls single-elimination bracket, Cooper defeated Region 6 runner-up Conner and Harrison County eliminated Region 5 runner-up Simon Kenton.
In the boys bracket, Covington Catholic, Simon Kenton and Ryle all lost in the first round on Friday. Simon Kenton won the area’s first and only state team title in boys bowling in 2013.
