Posted: Saturday, February 22, 2003 12:00 am
South Albany bowlers roll into state tournament
By KEVIN HAMPTON
Mid-Valley Sports
ALBANY - South Albany High bowling coach Bill Sherman breezed by sophomore Justin Lomax at a recent practice and then stopped.
"I will remind you that it's OK to pay me to like you," Sherman said.
Lomax was used to Sherman's shenanigans and was ready.
"How much this time?" he replied.
"Our coach has an unorthodox method," Lomax said while Sherman bustled about the bowlers in AMF Lanes. "Sherman refers to us as losers. We all know he's joking around."
Sherman and Chris Breshears coach the team, which won the district title and will compete in the state tournament at Portland's Hollywood Bowl on March 1-2.
Both coaches work at the lanes and donate their time and skills to the high schoolers.
While Breshears can be found showing some of the 11 South Albany bowlers tips on how to improve their release, Sherman is constantly talking to the athletes.
"(Breshears) is more of the technical type of coach, and I am the kind of coach that keeps the morale going," Sherman said.
The system must be working, because the South Albany team has made state two years in a row.
The Rebels bowled in two tournaments with teams from throughout the Willamette Valley and then competed in the district tournament along with teams from Corvallis High, West Albany and Crescent Valley and two others at Firebird Lanes in Salem. Four teams bowled in the girls division.
The Rebels' No. 1 team qualified third and wound up in a tie with Sprague in their first match and won a one-game roll-off with the Olympians. South Albany then defeated McNary and took the title in a Baker's format, in which each player bowls two frames.
Breshears said the Rebels' No. 2 team led the No. 1 team for a few rounds.
"The South 2 team were all new players and they did really good at districts for the ability of the team," Breshears said.
The team is anything but a group of weekend rollers who celebrate breaking 100. Lomax, who said he averages about 180 and has a high game of nearly 250, said the season-best by a Rebel was around 290.
The Rebels practice regularly and are working out an extra hour a week for state.
"I want to do better at it, so I want to practice to get better," Lomax said. "It's just a fun sport to play any time of the year."
South Albany junior Shane Rappin said he has been bowling since he was 10 and joined the team as a freshman.
Rappin played basketball in middle school but discovered the bowling team and stuck with it as his sole sport. He is now one of the Rebels' top bowlers and averages over 200.
"I'd come down here and bowl every day if I could," Rappin said. "I picked up on it really fast."
Rappin said the team should be able to take advantage of its experience from last year's state meet.
"It's a lot more hyped up, there's more people and it's a lot louder," Rappin said. "There's more competition. It's a lot of fun."
Lomax said the team struggled at state last year and is working to improve its middle-of-the-pack finish.
"We probably need to be a lot more energetic about it," he said. "That was one thing about district this year, is we got into it a lot more than we had been."
Although the sport is not sanctioned by the Oregon Schools Athletic Association, the team has gotten a little more recognition around school since it qualified for state.
"But as of right now, it's just kind of breaking through to most people that we have a team," Rappin said. "I'd like to see it as a sport because it's just the same as golf or tennis. I think it takes skill just like any other sport."