McCoy taking state one step at a time

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ANDERSON -- If at first you don't succeed ...

At least that's what Griffith's Ryan McCoy was telling himself several minutes after his semifinal loss to Matt Johns of Avon in the Indiana High School Bowling state singles on Saturday at Cooper's Sport Bowl.

The junior had finished seventh in the state last season. So he wasn't too upset with placing third this time after Johns beat him 236-200.

"I'm really looking forward to next year already, getting back down here and hopefully winning it," he said. "But I have to get past this guy."

He made that last statement while patting the back of state champion E.J. Hackett of Huntington North, who cruised past Johns in the final while shooting a crowd-pleasing 290 game.

Missing a seven-pin in the first frame against Johns likely set the tone for the rest of the game, though McCoy thought his mistake occurred before that frame.

"I probably should have stopped after one ball (of practice) on each lane," he said, referring to the designated warm-up shots each bowler gets before a match. "I should have realized I was throwing good shots in practice and that sometimes translates into me thinking too much in the game."

McCoy was on the outside of the top four stepladder finalists after two games, two pins out before he rolled a clutch 266 game while the bowler he was chasing to get in shot 244.

Close in second year

In only their second year with a bowling program, Kankakee Valley can't be too disappointed with its sixth-place finish in the boys event.

"I have no complaint about today," KV coach Butch Shepard said. "They bowled what they could. I told the kids, 'You guys are sixth in the state -- how can you frown on that?' "

Minutes earlier, Shepard did have his head down in his hands after the final game of qualifying as he thought back to a 164 fourth game.

"That game was tough," he said. "It really stinks to miss (the top four) by 35 pins. It was all that game."

In the other four Baker games his squad averaged more than 200.

Happy to be here

Another team making its first state finals appearance was the Griffith girls, whose claim to fame on Saturday besides finishing seventh might have been having the best seat in the house to watch Lake Central's record-setting game and 300 by Alyssa Fortner.

The Panthers were on the same pair as LC, cheering on their fellow region bowlers.

"That was awesome," Griffith co-coach Rick Woloszyn said. "They were unbelievable."

As for Griffith's first trip, the other coach put it in perspective.

"It's not a time to be sad. It's a time to be happy," Colleen Lidster said. "Out of 193 schools we were seventh. We need to take this as a stepping stone."