Dover, Spaulding set for bowling states
![James Gannon and the Spaulding bowling tream head into today's NHIAA state tournament as the No. 4 seed. [Mike Whaley/Fosters./com]](/gcdn/authoring/2019/02/15/NFDD/ghows-FD-81f6a730-8a92-2ada-e053-0100007fe12e-2ae79f32.jpeg?width=660&height=511&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp)
The Spaulding High School bowling team has beaten all of the teams above it during the regular season. The question is, can the Red Raiders do that Saturday during the NHIAA state tournament at Strikers East in Raymond?
Spaulding is the No. 4 seed and will meet No. 5 Goffstown in the quarterfinals, a rematch of last year’s championship match won by Goffstown, the two-time defending state champion.
No 10 Dover takes on No. 7 Raymond in the prelim round.
Competition starts at 10 a.m.
“We’re feeling pretty good going in,” said Spaulding coach Erin Kelly. “The kids know what they need to do. They know it’s going to come down to spares and their attitude for the day.”
It is a best-of-three Baker round for all matches. Baker means each team uses five players to bowl two non-consecutive frames each in a 10-frame string.
“We beat some very tough teams,” Kelly said. “We’ve beaten Merrimack, Keene and Stevens (the top-three seeds). We’re capable of beating everybody that’s out there.”
Spaulding faced Goffstown twice during the regular season, beating them head to head in a Baker semi on Dec. 8, two games to one.
The Red Raiders are led by a solid group of six: Xavier Bamford (211 average), Matt Pomerleau (179), James Gannon (160), Cam McIsaac (158), Ashley Gould (152) and Nick Breeze (152).
Bamford is the defending individual state champion.
“Baker is our best,” Kelly said. “The team event is where I think we are a strong team. The kids work well together.”
Second-year Dover missed the tournament by one spot last year and earned the last spot this year.
“If we bowl in the higher range of our regular-season performances we can compete with the better teams,” said coach John Silverio. “In a competition format like this with a mini ‘best of’ series it all comes down to consistency.”
Dover’s projected order is Miles Clemons (133 average), Michael Dyer (133), Olivia Young (154), Geoffrey Dickens (153) and Freddy Ecker (162). The rest of the team includes Justin Holt, Anna Chagnon and Jackson Perkins.
The other first-round matchup is No. 9 Pinkerton vs. No. 8 Sanborn.
In the quarters, No. 1 Keene will get the Pinkerton/Sanborn winner; No. 2 Stevens meets the Dover/Raymond winner; and No. 3 Merrimack takes on No. 6 Hollis-Brookline.
Spaulding won the inaugural team title in 2011 and has been runners-up three times since: 2014, 2015, 2018.