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Thompson made history with its first girls bowling state championship in school history after coming back from the losers’ bracket to down Hoover twice while the boys took home a runner-up finish after nearly downing Vestavia Hills. (Contributed)

(Contributed/AHSAA/David Holtsford)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

MOBILE – After their 2024 season ended in heartbreaking fashion in the quarterfinals, the Thompson Warriors went into the 2025 girls bowling state championship determined to make their stay in Mobile much more fruitful this year.

This time around, they not only won a match but the entire championship.

Thompson made history by securing the first girls bowling state championship in school history, defeating Hoover twice in the Class 6A/7A finals on Tuesday, Feb. 5 at Bowlero Lanes Bowling Center in Mobile after losing to the Bucs in the winner’s bracket finals.

The Warriors walked out of the state finals with two trophies as the boys team secured its second-straight runner-up finish to earn a red map to go with the girls’ blue map.

The girls started out their tournament strong on Monday, Feb. 3 with a 1,303-1,018 win over Hewitt-Trussville, avenging last year’s quarterfinal loss to the Huskies to keep progressing in the double-elimination bracket.

Thompson then faced the American Christian Patriots in the semifinals and improved on their quarterfinal score, racking up 1,436 pins to defeat ACA’s total of 1,277 pins and reach the winners’ bracket finals.

That booked the Warriors a chance to play the Hoover Bucs in the winner’s bracket finals, the same team that they beat to claim the South region championship.

However, Thompson couldn’t match the heights of either of its first two games in the day and posted just 1,237 pins. Hoover managed to eke out a 25-pin victory by scoring 1,262 pins and advanced to the state championship game.

As a result, the Warriors would have to win three games on Tuesday, Feb. 4 to win the state title versus the one game that the Bucs needed.

Thompson was matched up with James Clemens, which had already won an elimination game over Southside-Gadsden right before their consolation final matchup. The Warriors dominated the Jets as Emma Roberson’s score of 245 helped her team win 1,516-1,184.

Both of those scores were high-water marks for the entire tournament as Roberson tied for the best single-match score and Thompson set the team-high score for all of the Class 6A/7A teams.

With the win, Thompson faced off against Hoover knowing it would need to defeat the Bucs twice in order to claim the title.

The first state championship match was another tight affair, but with a new day came a new result. The Warriors downed Hoover 1,192-1,169, defeating their rival by 23 pins to force a decisive match for the state title.

Roberson continued to lead the way for Thompson, scoring a 214 to help her team beat the Bucs 1,279-1,141 and complete the comeback for a state championship.

Roberson finished with two of the top 10 traditional single games with the first-place score of 245 and seventh-place score of 211. Sophie Leonard had the sixth-best score of 218 on Monday.

As for the boys, they also started out the tournament strong with back-to-back wins on Monday to reach the winners’ bracket finals.

The Warriors faced James Clemens in the first round and rolled to their best score of the day, defeating the Jets 1,556-1,451.

Thompson then eclipsed 1,500 points again in the second round as it squared off with Dothan after all four South region teams won their first-round matches. The Warriors claimed a 1,507-1,313 win to reach the finals.

There, Thompson found itself in a rematch of the regional final that it lost against Vestavia Hills. The Warriors slipped to a 1,368 total and lost by 179 pins to the Rebels’ score of 1,547.

Thompson then downed Southside-Gadsden in a high-scoring consolation final by a score of 1,661-1,550 to book the trilogy match in the playoffs against Vestavia Hills.

The Warriors rebounded in the state championship match to eclipse 1,500 pins once again and gave the Rebels a run for their money. However, Vestavia Hills finished off the 1,594-1,577 win to claim the state title by just 17 pins and wrap up a 31-1 season.

Thompson finished the year with a 19-5 record and had two of the top three best individual single rounds of the state tournament. Kellen McNutt rolled a 258 on Tuesday to earn second place while Xander Adelberg was right behind him in third with a score of 257.

Elsewhere in the state tournament, Indian Springs finished in fourth place in the Class 1A-5A girls state championship after making the consolation semifinals.

Springs lost in the first round to Horseshoe Bend and claimed back-to-back consolation wins, first over East Limestone by a score of 1,100-969 and then over Marbury by a score of 1,102-1,077. They would then fall to eventual state champion Orange Beach in a 1,228-1,128 contest.

Two Indian Springs bowlers cracked the top 10 for best individual traditional games as Simone Bermudez scored 193 on Monday to come in fifth place and Kate Seidel finished in eighth place with a score of 181.

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