Add another ‘back’ to that moniker in front of the dynastic East River girls bowling team.
As in, back-to-back-to-back state champions, after the Falcons defeated Bell Creek Academy of Hillsborough County 3-1 in a best-of-five finals match at Boardwalk Bowl in Orlando on Thursday.
And just like last week in district play, they needed to fight through some adversity to hoist the FHSAA finals trophy.
The Falcons rolled through four championship bracket matches without a loss in the double-elimination format. That included a 3-2 win over their postseason rival, Space Coast, which moved over to the consolation bracket and lost to Bell Creek.
East River lost the first match against Bell Creek — giving both teams a loss and forcing the “if necessary” final. There, the Falcons lost the first game before another wake-up call from coach Tom Tagye.
“I asked them if they thought they could still win, and after they said ‘yes,’ I asked if they really thought they could win,” he said. “And I told them again (like at district) that champions do championship things.”
East River, South Lake, Windermere, Hagerty roll into bowling playoffs
East River averaged 206 in the next three Baker system games to become the first girls program to win three straight FHSAA bowling titles.
“I’ve never been more impressed with a group of girls and how clutch, unselfish and gutsy they were today,” Tagye added.
The most clutch might have been Jada Vidal, who moved between the No. 2 and 4 spots in the Baker lineup on Wednesday after finishing eighth overall in the individual bracket.
She struck four times in the final two games from the No. 4 slot to set up standout anchor Larielle Tharps.
“There was a lot of pressure, but I had to strike to make sure ‘Larry’ could shut out (Bell Creek),” said Vidal, referring to the team’s nickname for Tharps. And yes, Vidal spelled it L-A-R-R-Y.
“She was unbelievable all week,” Tagye said about Vidal.
Tharps, the Sentinel girls bowler of the year as a sophomore last season, finished third in the individual competition. That included a teammate vs. teammate win against Vidal on Wednesday.
The East River girls bowling team celebrated becoming the first in FHSAA girls state meet history to win three championships in a row. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Besides being the first girls bowling ‘three-peat’ winner (to use the word copyrighted by former NBA coach and current Miami Heat team president Pat Riley), East River set two records during match play.
They rolled a 299 Baker game with Tharps leaving a stone 8-pin on the final ball. That game was part of a 767 three-game series. Both obliterated the previous girls state finals records.
“The 299 and 767 were great, but I told the girls they didn’t mean anything without a title,” Tagye said.
In the boys bracket, Seabreeze also needed two matches to win the title, defeating Astronaut 3-2 after a 3-1 loss in the first match.
South Lake’s Brody Cartier had a 954 four-game qualifying series and placed third in the FHSAA boys bowling tournament. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
South Lake’s boys team, which went unbeaten through regular season and district play, finished fourth.
South Lake senior Brody Cartier, who broke a Lake County record with a two-game 569 series in district play, finished third in the boys individual standings. He bowled games of 227, 236, 264 and 227 for a 954 total in the qualifying rounds.
East River’s Shelby Davis lost to Cartier in a semifinal match and finished fourth. Hagerty’s Kaleb Jimenez placed eighth.
South Lake’s Brody Cartier (left) placed third in the state bowling tournament, one spot ahead of East River’s Shelby Davis (right). (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Varsity content editor Buddy Collings can be contacted by email at bcollings@orlandosentinel.com.
