BATON ROUGE - University High took down the No. 3 seed from David Thibodaux High on Monday at Premier Acadiana Lanes in Lafayette to advance for the first time to the state high school bowling semifinals which will be held at Premier Lanes in Gonzales on April 10.

Monday, the Division II (4A and below) matches, marked the first of three days of bowling in the three divisions of the high school playoffs that will set up the semifinal and final matches next week at Premier Gonzales.

The Cubs, in the bracket as the sixth seed, had a relatively stress free first round, defeating No. 11 seed Houma Christian, 20-7. That put them into the quarterfinals against the No. 3 seed from the host city of Lafayette.

U-High was down 6-2 after one game of the best-of-27 point format in which each of 18 matches (three games of six) results in a point, with the six-player total each game representing two points. The three-game super total is worth three points.

The Cubs moved back into the match with a 5.5-2.5 second game decision that left David Thibodaux up 8.5-7.5 going to the final game.

Clint Heroman, John Hebert, Matthew Mele all won their game points by big margins in the 1-2-3 spots and then Daniel Russo (200) and Jackson Dukes (220) came up big leading to a 7-1 final game that pushed the Cubs, with the super total, to a 17.5-9.5 victory.

They will face the 10 seed from Belle Chasse which defeated two higher ranked seeds – No. 7 Vandebilt Catholic (22-5) and Saint Thomas More, also 22-5. STM was the No. 2 seed in the power rankings coming into the playoffs.

Bryce Shepherd had a big day for the upset winners (based on seeding) with sets of 662 and 660 and high games of 269 and 256.

At the top of the bracket, the prohibitive favorite, Archbishop Shaw had no problem getting through, losing just four points in two matches. Shaw has now won 31 straight matches over a two-year period. The No. 4 seed from South Terrebonne needed the super total three points, winning total after 18 games by just eight pins to get a 15-12 decision over Patrick Taylor.

The semifinal match between Shaw and South Terrebonne will be a rematch of last year’s first-ever Division II championship match. Belle Chasse and U-High are both first time semifinalists.

The Division I boys/coed first two rounds are set for Tuesday at Bowlero Kenner. The seven-time champions from Brother Martin are the top seed in the Class 5A division. Baton Rouge area teams competing will include No. 5 seed East Ascension in the top half of the division and No. 10 Catholic High, No. 11 St. Amant, No. 14 Denham Springs (the defending champions) and No. 15 Dutchtown, all in the bottom half of the bracket.

The first two rounds of the girls’ playoffs are set for Thursday, back in Lafayette at Premier Acadiana.

Division II Boys/Coed First and Quarterfinal Rounds
First Round
Archbishop Shaw (1) 27, St. Michael The Archangel (16) 0
Shaw – Joshua Collins 220, Jonathan Arena 204, Cody Barrilleaux 202
SM – Sebastian Vasquez 190

French Settlement (8) 18, Madison Prep (9) 9
FS – Carson Childers 191
MP – Andre Gipson 200

Patrick Taylor (5) 22, Loranger (12) 5
PT – Zachary Nguyen 204; Peyton HO 211
L – Hunter Simon 197

South Terrebonne (4) 21, Teurlings Catholic 6
ST – Tony Bella 210-205; Aiden Jones 212; Logan LeBouef 204
TC – Jack Rochon 177

David Thibodaux (3) 22, Berwick (14 5
DT – Joseph Boulanger 255; Collin Castille 206
B – Brayden Gautreaux 178

University Lab (6) 20, Houma Christian (11) 7
UH – Daniel Russo 196
HC – Jason Golf 169

Belle Chasse (10) 22, Vandebilt Catholic (5) 5
BC – Christian Collingsworth 234-604; Bryce Shepherd 269-206 – 662
VC – Evan Arceneaux 201

St. Thomas More (2) 20, Holy Savior Menard (15) 7
STM – O’Neal Weber 221
HSM – Boston Serio 207

Quarterfinals – Winners to Premier Lanes, April 10
Shaw 23, French Settlement 4
Shaw – Jonathan Arena 258-255; Joshua Collins, 248-213; Brady Barrilleaux 200-267
FS – Carson Childers 222

South Terrebonne 15, Patrick Taylor 12
ST – Aiden Jones 244; Tony Bella 225
PT – Beckham Lieu 201-213; Peyton Ho 213; Andrew Ly 221

Belle Chasse 22, Saint Thomas More 5
BC Bryce Shepherd 212-256 – 660
STM – Everett Foard 199

University High 17.5, David Thibodaux 9.5
UH – Daniel Russo 200, Jackson Dukes 220
DT – Mason Malcom 199