The Boardman High School girls bowling team will be trying to qualify to the state tournament for the fifth time on Sunday when it competes in the Division I district tournament at Stonehedge Lanes in Akron.

“The girls are really excited about their chances to get there as a team, but it’s not going to be easy,” sixth-year coach Justine Cullen said. “We haven’t been there as a team since 2015. I always tell the girls the two biggest days of the season are the sectional and district tournaments. Just to get to the big show and be in the top 16 teams is a big step, and once you’re there, anything can happen.”

The Spartans seem to be hitting their stride. They won the sectional title Feb. 16 at Roseland Lanes in Bedford, as they had a total pinfall of 3,484 to beat runner-up Howland by 362 pins. The top three teams and top three individuals not on a qualifying team advanced to district.

“Our last three competitions have been our best, so I think we’re hitting our stride,” Cullen said. “Our numbers have been increasing a lot lately.”

Junior Lexus Petrich was the overall individual champion with a 641 series (199-216-226) and classmate Josalyn Hibbard was fifth with a 525 (165-146-214). There were 59 competitors in the field. Petrich was dominant, as she beat runner-up Jade Kimmel of Kent Roosevelt (542) by 99 pins.

“I made a change with the ball I was throwing in the middle of the first game because I wasn’t getting much carry,” Petrich said. “Things kind of fell into place then and I had a pretty good day. I was happy, but I was more happy for the team because we want to continue bowling well as a team and just keep moving on.”

Petrich and Hibbard were the only Spartans to bowl a complete series, as Cullen used substitutes on her deep and young squad.

“We’ve got a solid team across the board and we don’t have one senior, which is just so exciting,” she said. “When someone is having an off day, we’ve got others ready to go. My substitutions are based on who is getting the better ball reaction on that certain surface and (oil pattern) and that varies from match-to-match and game-to-game.”

Competing in two individual games at sectional were sophomores Grace Oklota (344) and Sam Hoffman (313) and junior Fatima Rehman (263). Competing in single games were junior Destiny Foltz (141) and Alayna Turillo (138).

In the regular season, Petrich led the squad with a 187.3 game average and was followed by Hoffman (180.2), Hibbard (178.6), Rehman (165.6) and Turillo (161.6).

“All of the girls have put in the work and have been contributing,” Cullen said. “They understand that spares are the biggest part of the game. When they miss single-pin spares, it’s a sign that they’re upset about the previous shot, and they know we can’t have that happen.”

Boardman won the state title in 2010 after placing fourth in 2009. The Spartans were 13th in 2011 and 14th in 2015. They also placed third in 2003 when bowling was still a club sport.

“We’ve had a lot of success and talented bowlers come through here and this group has a chance to add their names to that list in the next few years,” Cullen said.