The Marshalltown High School bowling teams raised the bar at the right time.
The Bobcat girls’ and boys’ squads both rolled season-high scores en route to a sweep of West Des Moines Valley on Thursday at Wayward Social, rounding into form just in time for the postseason.
The MHS boys beat the visiting Tigers 3,211-2,803 behind three career-high series, while two Bobcat girls rolled their best competitive games in a 2,487-2,267 triumph over Valley.
On the boys’ side, Bobcat junior Jayden Beichley closed with a career-best 256 game on his way to a dual-high 456 series — also his career high.
Gage Grieves rolled two strong games for a career-best 451 series (213-238), and Carter McCready’s career-best 238 game joined up with a 210 for his career-best 448 series.
Defending state champion Aiden Cowan contributed two games over 200 (224-201) for a 425 series, and Porter Niedermann added a 395 series to round out Marshalltown’s individual scoring.
Ten of the Bobcats’ 12 individual games were higher than 200, including Cayden Slifer’s 212.
Four of Marshalltown’s five Baker games were 200 or more as well, including a 244 third game.
Charlie Phillips led Valley with a 427 series and David Lyes added a 415.
The Marshalltown girls got their best team total of the season behind a pair of top performances. Camillya Thomas rolled a 141-202–343 for her top series of her career, and Delaney Legg’s high game of 159 led to her career-best 294 series as well.
Devin Peterson contributed a 340 series, while Sydney May’s season-high game of 179 led to a 301 series. Ariana Villagomez added a 291 series to round out the Bobcats’ scoring efforts.
A pair of 201-pin Baker games powered the Bobcats to the team win and the season-high scoring performance.
Valley’s Olivia Welch rolled a 211-179–390 to lead all bowlers.
The Marshalltown bowling squads are back in action next week with the Iowa Alliance Conference meet. The boys’ tournament is Monday while the girls’ meet is Tuesday — both at 10 a.m at Bowlerama Lanes in Des Moines.