RUTLAND — The joke with the Windsor High bowling team is that sophomore Patrick Kelley is late for everything. Coach Steve Bly even tells Kelley to time his arrivals for matches for 15 minutes prior to when he actually has to be there.
“I told him to be here at 9:15 today,” Bly said of his desired show time for Kelley for Saturday’s VPA state individual bowling championship at Rutland Bowlerarama. “He sent me a text at 8:45: ‘Are you here?’ Well, no. ‘Aha, well, I beat you here.’ ”
The sophomore really arrived over the course of the championship.
Ranked 41st in the state entering the day with a 143.3 average without a single 200 game to his credit, Kelley topped 200 in the last six of his seven games on Saturday to produce a Cinderella state championship on Saturday. He only made the 32-bowler field when 10 other competitors chose not to attend. He then had the third-best three-game qualifier, won two knockout matches and took two more in the stepladder finals to become the second Windsor individual state champ in the four years of VPA sanctioning.
“I tell my kids all the time you never know what’s going to happen,” Bly said. “Anything can happen. We’re seen the craziest things go down. Everybody should just keep digging.
“Game after game, I’d see the look on his mom’s face of shock. Where did this come from? The Hartford coach asked me where I’ve been hiding this guy all season long. Today was Pat’s day.”
Kelley rolled 195-207-217 for a 205.3 average that left him seeded third behind Fair Haven’s Jacob Pickielnok (213.3) and Burlington’s Julius Dodson (209.3) into knockouts. Kelley then defeated Fair Haven’s Brendon Touhy, 215-158, in the round of 16 and Windsor teammate Rayce Gilbert, 200-162, in the round of eight to make the stepladder final as second seed.
After Randolph’s Howard Stockwell ousted Dodson, 184-141, Kelley took care of Stockwell, 226-182, in a win that took the state’s top regular-season bowler out of the field. Kelley completed his unlikely championship with a 223-149 defeat of Pickielnok in the finals.
Three of the five Yellowjackets in the tourney advanced out of qualifying, Grayson Frazer in seventh (213-190-178) and Gilbert in 11th (178-179-194). Hartford’s Cean Lieberman (206-172-213) also made knockouts, earning the fourth seed. Lieberman and Frazer fell in the round of 16 while Gilbert posted a 203-202 squeaker over Randolph’s Joseph Warner before running into Kelley.
Windsor’s Tristan McMullen won the inaugural state individual bowling tournament in 2016.
EXETER, N.H. — The Marauders (10-8-0 overall, 8-7-0 NHIAA) lost a tight battle with the Blue Hawks (12-2-2).
Hanover tied it up at 1-1 with five minutes to go in the third period on Curtis Rice’s goal, assisted by Cam Woods and Patrick Daley. The Blue Hawks then retook the lead 10 seconds later before adding an empty-netter in the final seconds. Hanover goalie Ben Plottner made 25 saves.
MERIDEN — Bryce Bollman’s deflection of a shot from defenseman Andrew Noel with about a minute left lifted the Wildcats over Cushing Academy.
Donte Pierre had two goals to lead KUA (25-6-2). Bollman had another goal, a power-play strike. Sean Donoghue had an assist, and goalie Veeti Kohvakka had 35 saves.
WEST LEBANON — The Raiders dropped to 6-9-1 in NHIAA Division II competition and 6-11-1 overall and are locked in a battle with Portsmouth-Newmarket and Kingswood for the ninth and final playoff berth. The eighth and ninth teams play off to decided which will face the division’s top-seeded team in the first round.
Merrimack (11-3) scored the first period’s lone goal and went up, 2-0, three minutes into the second stanza. The visitors took a 3-0 lead two minutes into the final period before Lebanon’s Brian Daly scored unassisted a minute later. Jon Cloud scored off an Andrew Duany feed with nine minutes remaining.
WOODSTOCK — Four-year varsity player Nathaniel Kennedy scored his first career goal on senior night to highlight the Wasps’ win at Union Arena.
Kennedy wrapped up the scoring on a pass from Charles Greene. Andrew Gubbins led the attack with two goals and an assist, with Riley Shepherd and Greene both having one-goal, one-assist efforts. Trevor White and Ryan Runstein also scored goals. Dylan DeSchamp and Graeme McKeon earned assists.
Three netminders combined on 16 saves for Woodstock (14-3-2), which closes its schedule at Burlington on Wednesday.
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — Bad luck bit the Hurricanes (1-18-0) again when the visitors scored the game-winning goal shorthanded with 46 seconds left in overtime.
North Country-Lyndon nursed a 1-0 first-period lead into the third. Hartford tied the game on a Brianna Roberts goal on a Caitlin Slider assist, sending the game to extra time.
Hartford, which outshot NCU-LI, 34-17, picked up 15 saves from goaltender Jacqueline Gour.
LEBANON — The Raiders outscored the Pythons, 32-14, over the second and third quarters to earn the win.
Jon Willeman had 20 points, including 10 from the free throw line, for Lebanon (13-3, 11-2 NHIAA). Wade Rainey added 11 points. Calvin Bates and Karsten Hansen had nine points each.
QUECHEE — Mid Vermont Christian finished the regular season at 9-9 with the win and now awaits its seeding in the VPA Division IV tournament on Monday.
Cade Paquette had 21 points for MVCS, and Hunter Cooper added 10.
DORSET, Vt. — A 16-2 run in the second half sealed the victory for Sharon (10-10) in its regular season finale.
Tyler Chapin had 27 points for the Phoenix, including five 3-pointers. Erik Younce had 11 points.
Lyndon 61, Thetford 57
LYNDON, Vt. — A late 3-pointer from the Vikings settled what had been a close game throughout.
Eli Dunnet had 26 points for Thetford. Eamon Deffner added 15, and Alex Emerson had eight.
Thetford finished the regular season at 10-10.
Williamstown 81, Oxbow 47
BRADFORD, Vt. — The Olympians ended the year at 3-17 with the loss. Oxbow’s Bryce Ilsley led all scorers with 16. Daniel Sweet added 11, and Trevor Moore had eight.
BRADFORD, Vt. — A big second half by the Olympians turned a one-point game at halftime into a win.
Emma DeGoosh led Oxbow with 12 points. Melanie Neil had 11, eight in the fourth quarter alone, and Alexa Kosakowski scored 10, all in the fourth.
Lara Tarleton and Emma Tarleton had eight points each for Woodstock.
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — The Hurricanes built a 13-point lead through three quarters but let it get away in the fourth when Stowe outscored them, 22-6.
Jasmine Jenkins had 14 points to lead Hartford. Beth Dobrich and Davan Murphy scored seven each.
Hartford drops to 9-9 and will travel to Woodstock on Tuesday.
WHITEFIELD, N.H. — The Marauders won the boys half of a New Hampshire Coaches Series 5K skate race hosted by White Mountains.
Noah Phipps paced the Hanover boys in second overall. Simon Phipps was eighth. Adam Gilbert-Diamond took 12th and Eric Goodney was 17th for the Marauders. Meg Frost led the Hanover girls in 19th, followed by Sage Gilbert-Diamond (22nd), Elsa May (49th) and June Clark (50th).
The Lebanon boys team finished in second place. The Raiders were led by Sawyer Weale’s 16th place finish and were also led by Simon Amaro (23rd), Daniel Mladek (28th) and Nathan Magari (29th). Zoe Chinn led the Lebanon girls to sixth place, followed by Ayla Weale (25th), Maya Barnett (26th) and Celia Barnett (28th).
The Ford Sayre boys team placed 15th thanks to Dirk Andrew’s first-place finish. Teammate Spencer May took fourth. The girls team claimed 19th and was led by Hannah Chipman (third place). Catherine Bregou was seventh.
Scores that missed Saturday’s paper due to deadline. Find updates online at www.vnews.com.
WOODSTOCK — Junior Allie Cimis grabbed a loose puck in the defensive zone, skated across center ice before splitting the defense to score from the faceoff circle and break a scoreless tie four minutes into the third period. Lizzie Peck added an empty-netter for win.
NEWPORT — Greysan Beaulieu netted a team-high 10 points as the Tigers (3-17, 3-15) wrapped up their season.
Coach Ross Dole emptied the bench in the finale, giving 13 different players time on the court. Alyssa Burr had eight points, Riley Skarin netted seven and Alexis Quimby had six for Newport.