Lawrence High School bowler Ashlee Erickson celebrates after rolling a strike Saturday during the Free State Invitational bowling meet at Royal Crest Lanes.

Lawrence High School bowler Ashlee Erickson celebrates after rolling a strike Saturday during the Free State Invitational bowling meet at Royal Crest Lanes.

Free State bowler Brianne Martin gets some advice from bowling coach Burton Gepford during the FSHS Invitational bowling tournament Saturday at Royal Crest Lanes.

Lawrence High’s girls bowling team didn’t have any season-opening jitters at the Free State Invitational on Saturday afternoon.

The Lions took second place in the Baker-formatted match play at Royal Crest Lanes. They lost, 161-153 and 215-174, to Topeka High and were runner-up for the second straight year.

After rolling a three-game series, the invitational went to the Baker format, where five teammates alternate bowling toward one score. In match play, two schools went head-to-head against each other in a best-of-three series.

The Lions hung tough against Topeka, nearly matching every strike and spare. Senior Ashlee Erickson knocked down a 3-6-7 pin split in the 10th frame of the first game of the championship series to put pressure on the Chargers, but they responded by picking up a spare for the victory.

In the second game, Topeka only had one open frame and strung together three strikes in a row in the middle frames to pull away from the Lions.

“I thought we were very good,” Erickson said. “I’m new to high school bowling so I was very pleased with the meet today. I liked how we meshed together as a team.”

LHS took third in the regular three-game series team standings, knocking down 2,802 pins. Erickson was named to the all-tournament team, finishing sixth overall with a three-game total of 604. Junior Miranda Krom took ninth (568), junior Izzy Schmidtberger was 24th (517) and Holly Evans was 25th (510).

“I was really impressed with them,” LHS coach Paula Bastemeyer said. “I thought the kids did well. (Erickson) was our backbone. … She had a clean game. Right there tells you what caliber bowler we’re dealing with. If she leaves a 10 pin, she picks it up. If she leaves a 7, she picks it up.”

The Lions breezed through the first two rounds of match play, going undefeated against Topeka West and Olathe North. Schmidtberger, a left-hander, helped the team out by substituting in to pick up spares.

The Firebirds just missed out on match play. They were sixth in the team standings before all 16 teams played seven Baker games to qualify for eight-team knockout tournament, and they fell to ninth.

Senior Bri Martin led the Firebirds with a 535 series, placing 15th overall. Jamie Souders also finished with a three-game total above 500, knocking down 503 pins.

“The team had it going well. We just came up with a few misses here and there that were crucial to make match play,” FSHS coach Burton Gepford said. “It’s just the first tournament of the year, and we’re still trying to team bond and stay focused.”

Lawrence High will travel to the Leavenworth Invitational on Monday, and Free State will compete in the De Soto Invitational at Royal Crest Lanes at 3 p.m. on Thursday.

Free State Invitational

Saturday at Royal Crest Lanes

Three-game series

Varsity team scores: Topeka West 2326; Washburn Rural 2312; Lawrence High 2279; Olathe North 2198; Topeka High 2126; Free State 2026; SM West 2013; SM North 2005; Topeka Seaman 1973; Hayden 1896; St. James 1832; Mill Valley 1692; Atchison 1605; Blue Valley West 1301; Highland Park 1177; Washington 960.

Junior Varsity team scores: Olathe North 1879; Topeka Seaman 1849; Lawrence High 1772; Topeka High 1699; Washburn Rural 1660; Topeka West 1551; Free State 1390; Mill Valley 1374; SM West 1354; St. James 1229; Atchison 1205; Blue Valley West 1121; Hayden 989; Highland Park 790.

Lawrence High varsity

1. Ashlee Erickson, 214-210-180 — 604; 9. Miranda Krom, 158-235-175 — 568; 24. Izzy Schmidtberger, 182-155-180 — 517; 25. Holly Evans, 181-149-180 — 510; Morgan Daniels, 161-189-145 — 495; Miranda Sexton, 147-192-137 — 476.

Free State varsity

1. Bri Martin, 181-213-141 — 535; Jamie Souders, 166-168-169 — 503; Gentry Jordan, 164-158-154 — 476; Sarah Pesce, 126-199-139 — 464; Chaise Hegrenes, 124-149-147 — 420; Ashley Givens, 144-112-163 — 419.

Lawrence High JV

1. Kaitlyn Applegate, 149-170-195 — 514; 7. Diamonique Vann, 174-133-144 — 451; 15. Hannah Reed, 117-145-158 — 420; Renea McNemee, 113-114-135 — 362; Carli Stellwagon, 94-133-123; Dana Bequette, 86-87-141 — 314.

Free State JV

1. Brianna Burenheide, 129-102-146 — 377; Sapphie Knight, 94-168-85 — 347; Erica Crockett, 100-135-88 — 323; Jillian Schuler, 112-97-113 — 322; Morgan Wright, 101-76-99 — 276.