The girls’ bowling team snatched the MHSAA D2 state championship for the third year in a row, Friday, March 4, at Super Bowl in Canton.

Jackson finished as the state runner-up, and Charlotte was the third place finisher.

In the championship match, the Hornets finished their Baker games with scores of 199 and 217, leading Jackson’s Baker games of 147 and 115.

The five Hornets who competed in the regular games were freshmen Alexis Roof and Mary Wheeler, sophomore Emma Boychuk, and seniors Kayla Ward and Alexxa Flood. They bowled games of 200, 161, 164, 158, and 150, respectively, for a total pinfall of 833, which was only 16 pins behind Jackson’s 849.

Sophomore Barbara Hawes is proud of her team and how well they have done.

“Our strong lead in the Bakers put us through and got us excited,” Hawes said. “I am satisfied with the way we performed.”

At the end of the team match play, Kearsley had a combined score of 1,249, which beat Jackson’s 1,111, to claim the state championship.

However, the Hornets had many hurdles to overcome in order to get to the final round.

In the qualifying round, teams bowled eight Baker games and two regular games.

The Hornets’ scored 133, 172, 181, 208, 190, 158, 149, and 222 in their Baker games, and had pinfalls of 982 and 938 in their regular games.

Kearsley had a total pinfall of 3,333, and finished as the No. 1 seed.

The top eight finishers then moved onto the match play round, which consists of two Baker games and one regular game.

In the quarterfinal, Kearsley bowled against Warren Regina, winning the match with a pinfall of 1,210, against Warren Regina’s 1,008.

The Hornets then advanced to the semifinals where they beat Bay City John Glenn 1,223 to 1,079, setting them up for the final match.