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Both are set to venture back where they like to be – in the post-season – beginning this week with Regionals in Bay City.

The Sandusky teams both won the regular season titles in the Upper Thumb Conference this year and finished it off with the team tournament championships at Liberty Lanes this past Saturday.

Redskin boys

The SHS boys squad owns just one Regional crown (2004), but has qualified for State all four year prior to this, winning a State title in 2005 and reaching the semis twice, including last winter. They have also produced two State Singles champions – Tony Doerr and Peter Duran.

Coach Del Shea has all of his team back from a year ago. The Redskins want to improve on the second place effort at Regionals and go beyond their finish at the State.

"We want to win Regional first. We can only do one thing at a time," said Shea. "We know we have a good shot at it, but you never know."

Sandusky, rated No. 5, is one of only two state-ranked teams at Friday's Team Regional at Bay Lanes. The other is No. 2 Bay City All Saints.

Singles Regional will take place on Saturday at Bay Lanes. The top three teams and the top 10 individuals from each Regional will advance to the Div. 3 State Finals in Jackson, Mar. 29-Apr. 1.

SHS boys take UTC crowns

After claiming their fifth consecutive regular-season league title earlier in the week, the Redskin boys mowed down the opposition in Saturday's Upper Thumb Conference team tournament. They were easily seeded first in the qualifying round with a total score of 3481 (6 Bakers, two regular games). In the playoff championships, Sandusky defeated Bad Axe 1743-1605 (4 Bakers, 1 regular).

The ‘'Skins had some extra incentive on Saturday after losing to Bad Axe in a UTC position round at Biff's Lane's, Kinde, the night before. It was their only loss in match-play all season.

"We bowled real well (Saturday)," remarked Shea. "The guys had a little something to prove after Friday. We wanted to prove we were the better team."

The Redskins had strong regular games of 1083-2200 in the qualifying, led by Matt Arnold with a 255 game, Cody Paehlig with a 553, and Dennis Stacer with a 244. Nine of their 10 games were over 200. In the finals, Ethan Webster led the ‘'Skins with a 233, followed by Stacer with a 214.

Lady Redskins

The Sandusky girls have an impressive streak going that they are out to maintain this Friday in Bay City. The Lady Redskins have won four straight Regional crowns. To go along with that, Sandusky won the Class C-D State championship in 2004 and reached the semis two other times. Individually, Melanie Ball was a State Singles champ last year and Amanda Wrathell was a runner-up in '04.

"If we bowl like we did this last week, I'm pretty optimistic that we can get another (Regional) title," said veteran Sandusky coach Gordy Williams.

The Lady ‘Skins are ranked No. 6 in Div. 3 and are likely the favorite in Friday's team competition at Bay Lanes. Tradition has a lot to do with it, too.

"We do have that in our favor," Williams stated. "We're still the team to beat, obviously, because we've won it every year. And, I think that works in our favor."

Lady Redskins gain league titles

The Sandusky girls won the program's fourth regular-season league title in five seasons last week and then capped off Upper Thumb Conference play by cruising to Saturday's team tournament championship. The Lady Redskins, behind their 1728 pinfall in regular games, finished with a total of 2728 pins to earn the No. 1 seed in the qualifying play. They met Bad Axe in the tournament finale and won convincingly, 1433-1174.

"I'm proud of all the girls," said Williams. "All the starters did well and all the girls on the bench did well."

He continued, "Our starters are coming around at the right time. A couple have been in a slump, but they're coming out of it."

The 1728 two-game set was Sandusky's best of the season. In six Baker games Saturday, the Lady Redskins also averaged 166, another sign of improvement.

Nine Lady Redskins combined to average nearly 173 in the two regular games in qualifying. Crystal Smith led the way with 187-189. Ashley Smith had a 180 and Deanna Witkowski added a 174.

In the lone regular game in the playoff finals, Kayla Colesa's 198 was tops for the Lady ‘'Skins. Ashley Smith had a 179 and Crystal Smith came in at 169.