Cummins: “I have a guy that helps me out coaching and we basically asks if he has his nitro pills with him, it gets that competitive when you get two teams competing and fighting for a win,” head coach Ty Cummins said.
“Competing, it’s lots of fun and it gets just a loud as any other high school sport,” Senior Charlie Wilson said.
Cummins and Wilson helped lead the team to a 2022 state title.
Wilson said he didn’t expect them to win it all, but something clicked.
“At one point in the tournament we kinda just started going, and using that energy that we have as a team, we just kept snowballing it until we got to the end and won the whole thing,” he said.
There will be a eight players competing in this year’s state championships.
With five seniors on the team, they’re looking for another big win.
This year, Lava Lanes in Medford is hosting the tournament.
“Being the first time we’ve ever had it here, that I know of, it’s awesome that we didn’t have to travel and it is our home court we’re playing on,” Cummins said. “It also saves us some money on travel up to Portland and Eugene like we used to.”
The state championships will be from Feb. 25 and the 26.
They’ll compete against 15 other schools, including rivals, South Medford.
But this year, Cummins has his eye set on something bigger.
He’s hopes the team makes it to nationals.
The team is working on raising money to fund their trip to Dayton, Ohio, in June.
“We’re asking companies to donate to help the kids,” Cummins said. “I don’t exactly know with air flight for nine kids and myself, it’s going to be pretty expensive to get everything together.”
If you’d like to donate call Vicki Filmore at 541-941-3876.
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