The Daviess County boys’ team finished in a tie for third place at the KHSAA State Bowling Championships for the second year in a row. The Apollo girls’ team lost in the opening round of Saturday’s competition, wrapping up a successful year for the program.
Daviess County easily earned the No. 1 seed with a qualifying score of 1,247 (638-609), as No. 2 Russell County had a score of 1,178.
Paired with No. 16 Dixie Heights in the first round of bracket play, Daviess County had to fight from behind to advance. They handily took the first game in the best-of-five matchup, but Dixie Heights narrowly won the next two. Daviess County then controlled the final two games for a 3-2 (213-129, 182-192, 173-183, 195-124, 172-148) win to advance to the quarterfinals.
There, the Panthers squared off against No. 9 McCracken County, the team Daviess County swept in the Region 2 finals. In the opening game of the quarterfinals, the teams tied 145-145. With no tiebreakers in play, the game did not count.
McCracken County then won the replayed first game, but Daviess County prevailed again with a 3-1 (145-145, 180-204, 211-144, 198-181, 185-179) victory to advance.
The Panthers met No. 12 Boyle County in the semifinals. Daviess County was only able to win one game in a 3-1 (148‐161, 172‐189, 211‐191, 135-212) loss against red-hot Boyle County — who only had 991 pins in qualifying before taking down both No. 5 Butler and the top-ranked Panthers on the way to the championship match.
Apollo’s run at a title ended earlier than they expected with a loss in the first round. After their qualifying total of 856 (408-448), Apollo earned the No. 10 seed and was paired with No. 7 Campbell County.
In the best-of-five matchup, Apollo fell 3-1 (161‐157, 169‐181, 201‐154, 181‐145). Campbell County went on to finish runner-up, losing to defending champion Pleasure Ridge Park.
Though they did not advance, Apollo’s state appearance capped off a very successcul year. They went undefeated in regular season matches and finished third in four out of five tournaments. They were also the Region 1 runner-up, earning their third consecutive bid to the state tournament.
