The Skyview bowling team followed an undefeated regular season with another dominant day at the 4A district bowling tournament Friday. Now, the Storm are on a roll heading into next week’s Class 4A state championships. As a team, the Storm claimed their eighth consecutive district championship at Hazel Dell Lanes led by senior Addy Case, who won her third district title in four years with a 698 three-game series. Skyview swept each of the top four spots, with Kaydree Rowland (669), Avery Henderson (538) and Abby Pine (534) rounding out the individual leaderboard. “We definitely worked as a team today,” Case said. “I feel like we built off each other — when somebody did good, we came back and did the same thing again — and I think our team chemistry this year is really strong.”

While Skyview was closing in on a district title, Evergreen, another Southwest Washington bowling power, held on for the 3A district title despite a strong push from Prairie in the afternoon baker games. Evergreen’s Alissa Barber earned medalist honors with a 631 series and teammate Chloe Shove (555) took third place. “My team was very passionate,” said Barber, who won her first district title. “We knew we had a chance at state as a team, but we were just having fun, being a team, being ourselves.” Second-place Prairie also qualified for the 3A state championships. Lauren Bisson took second place and Bella Hewes finished fourth. The Falcons made up 106 pins across the third, fourth and fifth baker games to get within 100 of the Plainsmen, before the latter closed strong to post a combined score of 3,548 ahead of the Falcons’ 3,392 final score. “We kind of just locked in. Clock in at the lock in factory, man,” Barber said.

Already with a sizable lead entering the baker games, Skyview picked up right where it left off from the morning session with a blistering 267 on its first baker. The Storm rolled six consecutive strikes to start, ultimately finishing with nine strikes and two spares in the game. “Overall we kept each other up, and even if someone was down, we kept them (up),” Rowland said. “We definitely worked really, really hard on bakers the last couple years, and I feel like now we’re really strong in individuals and bakers,” Case added. “So, I think that was a step in the right direction going into state.” The tone-setter for Skyview’s consistency during a 14-0 regular season and districts is Case, who’s also finished in the top six at state in each of the last three seasons.

“I was really happy. I came into today with a goal — I really wanted 700 — but it’s OK,” said Case, who came up two pins shy. “I threw the ball really today. I picked up pretty much all my easy spares, which was also a good goal for me. Going into state, I think spares are going to be crucial.” Over that stretch, the Storm won the 4A state title in 2022, took second in 2023 and third in 2024. With no shortage of experience, the Storm know what to expect at the Feb. 7-8 state championships in Tukwila. “I’d definitely say cheering for each other because that’s definitely a big thing, (and) keeping the mood up,” Rowland said. Evergreen, meanwhile, is looking to build toward its best performance of the season at state Feb. 5-6, much like it did in 2023 when it won the program’s fifth 3A state championship.

With four of their top-seven bowlers in their first season, Barber noted, the Plainsmen have gained key experience over the season, and especially competing in higher stakes during Friday’s district championship. “It’s different than a season game. It’s a lot louder, a lot more aggressive, a lot more competitive. … When we get to districts, we’re not just a team — we’re a family working together,” Barber said. “We’re going all the way to Tukwila, we might as well make it a ball (and) have a blast. Two days of bowling, you really can’t go anywhere else but up when you’re going to state.”