Deer Lakes bowlers take aim at defending WPIBL championship

By: Antonio Rossetti
Monday, January 15, 2024 | 11:13 AM

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The Deer Lakes girls bowling team won a second straight section title and captured the WPIBL crown last season, earning a spot in the state championships.

“They were 100% committed, and they put in the time and everything worked out,” Lancers coach George Germanich said. “We got to where we wanted to go, and we accomplished our goal.”

Maintaining that momentum, the Lancers have started 4-0 and are closing in on their third straight section title with just fewer than 10,000 total pins.

Kaylee Lipp and Tayla Germanich graduated last year, forcing the team to reload. Lipp is coach Germanich’s niece, and Tayla is his daughter.

“When you lose somebody like that, it’s tough to swallow, and you don’t know what you have,” Germanich said.

“You have an idea of what you have coming up, and you just hope that the younger girls step up and try to fill the roles of the two that left.”

Tia Germanich, Tayla’s sister and Kaylee’s cousin, has stepped up as the new anchor.

“A lot of the girls do miss them, for sure, especially me losing my sister and my cousin,” Tia Germanich said. “It was very difficult bowling our first match without them being there, just because it was a change. However, the team that we have this year is taking over the roles that we need to be taking, and everything’s kind of right now just falling into place.”

Tia Germanich leads the North section with a 202 average and has grown into the leadership role as the team’s only senior.

“My dad had expected me to average at least 200 this year,” she said. “Being able to sit here and go through with that and be able to be where I want to be and plus is just fantastic.”

Tia Germanich posted a 646 series this year and also rolled a 278 game.

“She’s a leader in any sport that she does,” Coach Germanich said. “She’s a very good softball player as well. She wants to win, plain and simple. She doesn’t like to lose. She wants to be the best there is. She works hard.”

Father and daughter want to have another go at states. Last year, the Lancers fell short of the state title match by five pins, which motivated Tia.

“I’m constantly practicing every day,” she said. “The grind just doesn’t stop. The 202 average, I’m very proud of that coming out from where I was last year. The amount of work and dedication that I have decided to put into this makes me very proud of how I’ve been performing lately.”

Several other team members have reprised their roles and are contributing to the team’s success.

“Our coaching staff sat down with us and told everybody what their expectations were,” Tia Germanich said. “Everybody had a goal to reach, and everybody achieved that goal and plus. Everybody kind of filled the positions that needed to be filled.”

Sophomore Sydney Sharkins (184.5 average) has rolled a 255 game and 595 series. Sophomore Tessa Lovich averages 155.58, and junior Peyton Moran is averaging 126.4.

“Sydney and Tessa have definitely stepped up, too,” Tia Germanich said. “I’m returning, and so is Peyton (Moran). Peyton was our sixth man last year, so she has also stepped up. But I mean, the work that these girls are putting in, I couldn’t ask for a better team in the end going on in my senior year. I wouldn’t want to do it with anybody else.”

Freshman Abbey Skundrich stepped into the lineup and has a 142.7 average.

“That girl works,” George Germanich said. “She focuses. She’s one of the ones that she’ll look at me and I’ll say, ‘Hey, this is what we need to do. Let’s work on this,’ and she’ll do it.”

The North section has only two other teams — Shaler and Riverview — which has limited Deer Lakes’ schedule.

“That kind of affected us in a way,” Tia Germanich said. “Our outlook on things are definitely going to change once we start looking into regionals, sections and states and stuff like that, but for right now, we’re just focusing on finishing strong.”

The Deer Lakes boys team is off to a 2-3 start. The Lancers also have just one senior, Dakota Williams. Freshman Ethan Danner leads the squad with a 181.08 average. Sophomore Michael Gbur (160.40), junior Alex Warrene (150.86), freshman Matthew Crawford (138.42) and sophomore Correy Heasey (137.33) also have contributed.

Tia Germanich emphasized the importance of the teams’ coaching staff, including her father and assistant coaches Kevin Hindman and Jeff Gray and boys coaches Dan Danner and Steven Perroz.

“Our coaching staff is phenomenal,” she said. “Last year, we were definitely our strongest, but the way that we’re looking right now is we’re lined up right where we were last year. So I do feel that we do have a pretty good chance of going to where we want to go.”

The job is not over, however. The girls team is setting its focus on the playoffs.

“I’m pretty confident in these girls,” Coach Germanich said. “Starting next week, with us getting down to the nitty gritty, getting ready to go to championships, the atmosphere is going to change here. The rules are going to get a little bit harder. I’m going to get a little bit more stern as a coach.

“The goal is to not let every other girl that’s next to you down. We’re going to try and change that over the next couple of weeks and start hammering down and really working on winning the section again for the third year in a row and see if we can repeat the WPIBL championship.”

Tags: Deer Lakes