To make up for a snow-day cancellation last Wednesday, the MHSAA was forced to reschedule the game for this week Wednesday, meaning that the boys and girls were faced with three, back-to-back games.

“Usually, our games are scheduled so that there is always a break in between games,” head coach Terry Metzner said. “With the snow day, though, they [the FHC bowlers] didn’t get to rest.”

FHC’s three-game tilt began Monday and featured one of the top dogs in the Grand Rapids area, Grand Rapids Christian. The two teams had never played each other this season before Monday’s early-week brawl, so other than rumors, coach Metzner and his team didn’t have a way to learn about their opponent.

“All we knew was that they [The Eagles] are one of the better teams around here; that’s enough for us to know how good they are,” coach Metzner said. 

As good as the Eagles were supposed to be, the Rangers stole the second baker game with a streak of spares. Sophomore Luke Stiles then set a personal best for himself with a score of 210, which was enough to edge out his opponent 210-163. Soon after, though, GRC would go on a five-game tear in the individual rounds and defeat FHC by 12 points, 21-9.

“Christian was a really good team,” senior Joey Spaletto admitted. “We made some mistakes, but there’s no doubt they are a difficult team to take down.”

The girls’ game against GRC was just as much of a lopsided affair as the boys’ game was. Except for an impressive 150 from senior Maurielle Hayes, the girls didn’t have enough gas left in the tank once the important individual matchups came around. In the end, the girls lost 29-1.

A day later, both squads laced up their shoes in preparation for a rescheduled game versus the Pioneers from East Grand Rapids. This time, FHC got out to a fast start by winning both baker games that are worth four points each. 

“In those two [baker] games, I thought we all bowled really well and maybe even the best we have bowled this season,” Joey said.

Despite the early success, the boys flat out struggled to keep the momentum going, falling 18-12. The girls team, on the other hand, had a breakthrough in the form of 12 points; for the first time this season, FHC added to its win column. Unreal performances from Paris Gooch and Emmy Willemin solidified a 21-9 victory for FHC. 

“It felt great to finally see our hard work pay off,” Emmy said. “We’ve been waiting to feel like this for a while now.”

To cap off the three-game gauntlet, FHC was tasked with taking on the Lowell Red Arrows. The boys team, who entered Wednesday’s game against Lowell on a two-game losing streak, was desperate for a win, while the girls team was more worried about maintaining its success. As the game developed for the boys, things didn’t look good—mainly because of Lowell’s performance in the first round of individuals in which the Red Arrows won four out of the five games. 

It wasn’t until the second round of individuals that senior Korbin Thompson stepped up to get his team out of the ditch it was in. Korbin’s 211 won him his own matchup and gave FHC a pivotal point. Unfortunately for the Rangers, their efforts weren’t enough to snag them a victory. Two lanes over, the girls found themselves in a dogfight in the first two baker games. Down one game, the girls came back from behind to win the second game 154-141. Just like the boys, the girls never were able to make up enough ground to add to their win column. 

“I thought over the past three days, both teams played very well in the baker games but struggled when playing in the individual rounds,” coach Metzner said. “Hopefully we start to stay in the game early so that we don’t have to always start from behind.”

Next week Monday, at Eastbrook Lanes, both teams are set to kick off their weeks against Forest Hills Northern. Time will tell if the Rangers can bowl a consistent game where their scores in the baker and individual rounds are similar.