KSM boys bowling makes strong showing in debut
August 16, 2013
WAILUKU — In their inaugural bowling match, the brand new Kamehameha Maui boys bowling team held their own against powerhouse eight-time, reigning MIL champs, the Baldwin Bears, losing by only 14 points in the second game, and keeping Baldwin to less than 50 pins difference in all three games.
It was the first game in the season and the first game for the new bowling team at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, at the Maui Bowling Center.
The team was supported by an overfull house of supporters who clapped and gasped at both the spectacular and not so spectacular. With so many students new to the sport, success came in many different forms, from keeping the ball out of the gutter to hitting two strikes in a row.
Captain Russell Nagamine, a sophomore, is excited to lead his team this year. He said he had been trying to establish a bowling team at KS Maui since the beginning of his freshman year.
Along with senior Kasie Apo Takayama, he approached the new athletic director, Coach Blane Gaison. Coach Gaison said that if Nagamine and Apo Takayama could find at least seven girls and seven boys to participate, he would support the addition of a bowling team.
Many people were interested in joining with nearly forty signing the interest sheet. Not everyone showed up to try out, but there were just enough people to make a team, and KSM bowling was born.
Nagamine and Apo Takayama have experience in the junior bowling league, but for some of the other students and their parents, the new sport meant learning new rules and procedures. Many in the stands were just learning the basics of Maui Interscholastic League bowling.
Take scoring, for instance. In bowling, one match is comprised of three games with five bowlers on each school’s team — one team for girls and one team for boys.
In one game, the five bowlers alternate bowling in lanes side by side with their opponents until all five bowlers have bowled 10 frames, usually made up of two rolls, but a frame can take only one roll if a player knocks all the pins down on the first roll and gets a strike.
All five players expect to bowl in all three games, but the coach can also put subs in the games. No one was subbed in on this first outing.
The scores depend upon how many of the 10 pins are knocked down in each frame. At the end of one game, the individual scores of a team are combined to create a team score. After all three games, the team with the highest total score that won the most games, wins the match.
Another lesson learned was to come early, as seating is limited and fills up quickly, as does the parking outside. The municipal lot is a good choice for parking that is only a block away. Food and drinks are allowed behind the main bowling area.
While many fans were just learning about this sport, the boys team played like old pros. Losing by 49 pins at the most and 14 points at the least.
In addition to the team captain, seniors Avinash Singh and Justin Fernandez and sophomore Lukela Kanae were consistent performers.
Nagamine said that he hopes the team “makes a mark” this year and generates enough interest to keep it going next year.
With only one or two junior league bowlers on the girls team, this group averaged just a little less than 100 points per player per game and looks forward to improving on that this season as they learn about the sport and get more comfortable with their technique.
Junior Destinee Murray broke 100 points in each game.
*Update 8/16: The Baldwin boys team was disqualified from the second game for having an ineligible player in the second game only. The Bears still won the match, 2-1. Updated information throughout the article is italicized.
First Match Results
Kamehameha Maui girls: 494, 487, and 455
Baldwin girls: 698, 645, 563
Kamehameha Maui boys: 617, 541, 560
Baldwin boys: 666, 556 (DQ), 600
