Wednesday

Boys bowling

North Fort Myers’ Brandon Rucker has an outside shot at the Florida High School Athletic Association bowling championship.

Rucker, the second-seeded player in the tournament, reached the third round of competition before falling into the consolation bracket.  

In this double-elimination event, winning the consolation bracket Thursday morning would give Rucker a chance to bowl for the title. It would require three wins in roughly two hours to earn that opportunity.

Rucker earned the second seed by bowling 979 in four preliminary rounds, second only to Michael Bone of Melbourne.

The top 16 bowlers after the preliminaries entered the double-elimination brackets to compete for the championship.

Drew Gifford of Mariner rolled 847 in four rounds of preliminary competition, not enough to make the final 16. North’s Jeff Reaves finished at 810, while teammate Darrick Mast had a 768 total.

Also in the prelims: Trent Gifford, Mariner, 710; Jackson Manderson, Ida Baker, 691; Bryce Davis, Island Coast, 688; Matt Shafer, Mariner, 609; Ty VanBulk, Mariner, 609 (3 rounds); Jake Amaluccio, North Fort Myers, 480 (3 rounds); Tanner Salender, North, 439 (2 rounds); Konnor Gregory, Mariner, 302 (2 rounds); and Christian Haas, North, 147 (1 round).

North Fort Myers fell 3-1 to Tampa Bay HEAT in the opening round of Baker competition.  Apopka then eliminated the Red Knights 3-1 in the first round of consolation play.

Girls bowling

State tournament: The North Fort Myers girls lost 3-2 to Sandalwood in the opening round of the team competition Wednesday at Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center in Orlando. That sent the Red Knights into the consolation bracket, where they ousted Odyssey Charter 3-2 before being swept 3-0 by Rockledge.

In individual competition, Ariana Thomas of North Fort Myers was the top area finisher, coming in 25th with a 729 total. Alysa Morris finished at 705, Tara McCue 654, Alexis Morris 586, Emily Reichling 276 (two rounds) and Jalynn Brooks 147 (1 round).