INDEPENDENCE — The Fort Dodge bowling teams competed at the Independence Bakers tournament on Saturday.

The Dodger girls finished 13th out of 16 squads. The boys were 16th out of 18.

“We had a 2,205, which was our highest total of the season,” said FDSH girls coach Nick Vinson. “We bowled really well. It’s not like a dual, where you have to rely on a couple of big scores. It’s a team effort.

“On the season, we’ve been averaging a 122 in bakers and we bowled significantly better — in the mid 140s.”

Vinson said senior Calli Graves had a strong day, having only two open frames in 15 games while rolling 11 strikes.

The Fort Dodge boys recorded a 2,645. They had a high game of 212 and bowled four 200s.

Senior Slade Babb had a solid effort for the Dodgers, throwing 18 strikes and marking 85 percent of the time.

“Slade anchored for us the majority of the games,” said FDSH boys coach Julie Ulrich. “Orrin Rurup, who has worked his way into the varsity lineup, also did an excellent job. He had 12 strikes and marked 80 percent of his frames. Kody (VanValkenburg) and Leland (Sassman) had 13 and 12 strikes (respectively).”

Fort Dodge worked on getting closer to postseason action.

“I saw the boys having successes with various spare shooting that we’ve been working on in practice,” Ulrich said. “We set a goal to average over 175 on the day and finished just a little over 176.

“This is always a very tough tournament with 18 teams. After five games were were in 14th, after 10 games we were 15th and finished 16th. Regardless of not making the bracket in the top eight, it’s great practice and we have fun.”

The Dodger girls are back in action on Monday in the Iowa Alliance Conference tournament.

The Dodgers boys will be back at the lanes on Tuesday, Feb. 3, in a dual against Des Moines Roosevelt.