After edging out Lansing Eastern in the regional championship, the boys’ bowling team lost to the Quakers at the MHSAA Division 2 state final on Friday, March 4, finishing as the state runner-up.

Kearsley dropped the final match 1,444-1,288.

Senior Chad Stephen took his team far this year, but was sad that the team failed to take home another championship after winning them in 2014 and 2015.

“I think we made a lot of good shots, but had a tough time transitioning when the lanes dried out,” Stephen said.

He was referring to a lack of oil on the bowling lanes, which occurs when a lane is used frequently.

The Hornets started out strong in qualifying, earning the No. 2 seed. Their 3,384 pins fell short of New Boston Huron’s 3,517, and edged past Coldwater’s  3,369.

In the quarterfinals, Kearsley knocked off Escanaba 1,283-998, advancing to the semifinals.

The Hornets faced off against St. Clair Shores Lake Shore in its semifinal, besting the Shorians 1,263-1,237.

In the opposite bracket, Lansing Eastern beat Owosso 1,230-1,077 in a semifinal, advancing to the final match to take on Kearsley in a rematch of this year’s regional championship.

Kearsley started off keeping pace, downing 445 pins in Baker Games vs. Lansing Eastern’s 452.

But individual games were Kearsley’s downfall. The Hornets were off, averaging 168.6 pins per game compared to Lansing Eastern’s 198.4.

Senior Phil Hawes shot the high for the boys with 190, followed closely by junior Brandon Wheeler with 184.

Wheeler felt that the team could have bowled better but is still proud of the team’s accomplishments.

“We finished second in the state. There’s nothing wrong with that,” Wheeler said. “Yeah, we wanted to win, but who doesn’t?”

Junior Dylan Phelps felt that the team was mentally affected by the thought of former teammate Troy Paxton, who died last summer.

Paxton graduated in June and was on the last two state championship teams.

“At the beginning of the season, we said this season was dedicated to Troy,” Phelps said. “Bowling in the finals was emotional for all of us, and we couldn’t pull through to win it for him. Our emotions definitely got the best of us.”