Plum bowler Shannon Small wins regional championship

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, March 9, 2018 | 11:33 PM

Plum sophomore Shannon Small bowled a 157 in her first game of the Western Pennsylvania Regional girls singles tournament Friday at Princess Lanes in Whitehall.

But as the day progressed, her scores improved.

Small finished the five-game qualifying round in first place with a 974 total (194.8 average). She then won two games in the bracket playoffs to capture the championship.

Small finished 16th at regionals last year.

“This is a big accomplishment for me after not doing as well as I had hoped last year,” said Small, who defeated Norwin's Rachel Lundy, 223-202, in the playoff title match.

“It feels really good to do so well against so many of the great bowlers who were there. As I got better, I started to really think I could (win the title).”

Small surpassed the 200 mark in her final two games of the qualifying round with scores of 207 and 245. She defeated McDowell's Brittany Metzler, 216-158, in the semifinals.

“I finally found my mark after a few games,” Small said. “I kept hitting that mark, and it worked for me.”

Small is one of 12 girls and 12 boys who will advance to next Friday's state singles tournament, also at Princess Lanes.

Also qualifying for states was Burrell junior Carlee Hummel, who placed 11th overall with a qualifying-round total of 874 (174.8).

Rounding out the girls state qualifiers are Canon-McMillan's Jessica Cadez, Butler's Ashley McCue and Mercedes Belch, Greensburg-Salem's Mattie Mae White and Erica Moss, McDowell's Maura McLaughlin and Lauren Lytle and Woodland Hills' Johnna Hill.

Penn-Trafford junior Mike Barvinchak finished third in the boys qualifying round and went 3-0 in the bracket playoffs to claim the singles title.

St. Joseph sophomore Bowen Lambermont ended the qualifying round tied for 12th with Norwin senior Steven Furin, but Lambermont won a roll-off to advance to the bracket playoffs and earn a trip to states.

The boys state qualifiers are Moon's Sam Copeland, Armstrong's Jesse Halutick, Blackhawk's Adam Scruci, Brandon Sullivan and Adam Rolston, Hempfield's Ethan Hayden, Beaver Falls' Devin Crepp, Plum's Vincent Cocca, Norwin's C.J. Turek and Ambridge's Ryan Adams.

The Western Regional Championships continue Saturday at Princess Lanes with the boys and girls team tournaments. Bowling begins at 9 a.m.

Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Mlove_Trib.