Brice headed to represent Chiefs at state

MOSES LAKE — After more than three months of competing in the Columbia Basin Big Nine girls bowling league, Moses Lake sophomore Shanice Brice is at the top of her game — literally.

With a 194 season average, Brice was the league’s highest scoring individual bowler and was a first team All-Columbia Basin Big Nine selection. She was subsequently named the Columbia Basin Big Nine 4A bowler of the year.

Brice dominated last month’s district tournament at Nob Hill Lanes in Yakima with a 207 average.

After winning the district tournament by a 29-pin average, Brice will take her skills on the lanes to Narrows Plaza Bowl in University Place to compete against the best high school bowlers in the state for the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association 4A girls bowling championship.

Brice will compete against 144 individual participants and members of eight teams for the highest individual honor a high school bowler can receive. Brice will compete for the right to be called a state champion.

The Moses Lake sophomore has been bowling since she was 10 years old and she said qualifying for the state championship tournament is rewarding.

“It feels really good,” she said. “I am happy about it.”

It is an honor to qualify for the tournament, Brice said, and the achievement gives her confidence as a bowler.

“Knowing that I am actually good enough to make it to state after I have practiced so hard,” she said is the most rewarding aspect of going to the state tournament. “It’s something that I am really good at.”

While Brice is excited to represent Moses Lake at state, she said she finds joy in seeing how far she has progressed since she began bowling.

“(I enjoy) seeing how good I get over the years,” she said.

Brice has bowled for Moses Lake High School for two years and she said she appreciates the opportunity the sport gives her to spend time with her father, Billy.

Billy Brice is the Moses Lake High School head bowling coach and the general manager at Lake Bowl in Moses Lake.

“He is a really good coach,” she said. “He will help me when I am down and he knows what to say to get me to do better. He always believes in me.”

Although she is the only member of the Moses Lake girls bowling team to advance to the state championship, she is not the only Chiefs bowler to find success this season. Moses Lake senior bowler Virginia Valdez earned a second team All-Columbia Basin Big Nine selection with a 170 average at the district tournament.

With hopes of a state championship on her shoulders, Brice said she is filled with anticipation.

“(I) want to win,” she said. “I just want other people to know if they work really hard at something they can actually go somewhere.”

Brice has excelled on the lanes in her short time at Moses Lake and she may add to her athletic resume this spring.

“This year I might do tennis,” she said. “I haven’t tried it before and it might be fun to try a different sport to see how it is.”