LEWISTON — Lewiston boys’ hockey, Edward Little girls’ track and field and St. Dom’s girls’ hockey all celebrated state championships this recently completed season.

That wasn’t the extent of winter glory for The Twin Cities, which had a fourth, less heralded team at the top of its game.

The Androscoggin Valley Vipers bowling club, competing out of Sparetime Recreation and representing Lewiston, Edward Little, Leavitt and Lisbon, prevailed in its state meet for the second consecutive year.

“It was kind of nerve-wracking as a senior to see where we were at the beginning of the season,” Damon Douglas, a senior from Lisbon, said. “Chemistry builds quickly.”

High school bowling is not a Maine Principals Association-sanctioned activity. Teams are on their own for fundraising, transportation and other details that help varsity teams run smoothly.

Vipers developed after Lewiston High School, state runner-up for three consecutive years, dropped its club team prior to the 2014-15 season.

“It’s almost like when the Vipers were formed, we got a breath of fresh air,” coach Ali Breault, now in her fifth year, said. “Last year it just took off. It was a like a whole new chapter.”

The team blossomed from eight players a year ago to 15 this winter.

Only five are allowed to participate in a match, so to ensure maximum playing time, Vipers were divided into a more experienced Black team and a younger Red squad.

“We consider ourselves the New York Yankees of the high school bowling league,” assistant coach Steve Dubuc said. “Everybody loves to hate us. They don’t really want to see us coming.”

At the recent state showcase, it was easy to understand why. Vipers stole the show and gave their opponents double vision, even if they had to fight off one another first.

After a slow start to its rookie season, Red found a groove and upset its Black teammates in the state semifinals before pulling off a comeback victory over Bangor in the championship.

“We all won,” senior Zach Brito of Lewiston said. “There was a half hour where we were upset, and then we got over it and cheered them on. They are our team, after all. We still get the title.”

“(Having two teams) was kind of hard at first, because you have kids who are competitive and want to win, but you have two teams that are part of the same program,” Breault added. “We try to look it like a program championship and not an individual team championship.”

Maine’s high school bowling league follows the traditional winter sports calendar of late November to early March.

The Vipers practiced as a team on Tuesdays and competed on Thursdays. Almost every member of the team competes in a United States Bowling Congress junior league every Saturday morning.

“A good portion of the team is able to analyze what you’re doing and tell you what to do in order to fix it. I have yet to get to that point,” Brito quipped, before acknowledging that his scoring average has gone up double digits each year.

Brito’s teammates run the gamut from high rollers to well-rounded athletes to newcomers who are trying a sport for the first time.

Androscoggin Valley produced the top two female bowlers in the league, both freshmen. Alley Gagne of Leavitt won the individual title, while Avery Goulding of Edward Little was runner-up.

“(Gagne) started rough and she powered herself right to the top throughout the season,” Breault said. “She won regionals with a brand new ball she’d never bowled with before. It was drilled that morning. I don’t think she had a game lower than 200 all day.”

Corey Harvey, a Lewiston senior best known for his achievements on the baseball diamond, was in his second year with the team.

“I really just wanted to do something different. At first I wasn’t really into it. I didn’t have my own ball, and I wasn’t as good as any of the other kids,” Harvey said. “For the first year I actually bowled with a house ball. Then I got into it, got my own ball, got to know the guys, and it was great.”

Forming two terrific teams under one umbrella from four different schools was no easy task.

Practices were intense, although Breault and assistant coach Steve Dubuc were careful to devote 15 to 20 minutes at the start of each session to team-building and motivational thoughts.

“These kids are not individuals. You wouldn’t know that they come from different schools and that a lot of them didn’t know each other before the program started,” Breault said. “We talk about enjoying the game and putting each other first, and they do a phenomenal job.”

High school and college are huge in pockets throughout the United States, particularly the Upper Midwest. Although operating off the radar screen, it is well into its second decade in Maine.

In some ways, the club status is a blessing. It is easier for teams to negotiate cooperative enterprises with neighboring schools. As a no-cut sport, bowling has provided a platform for blind, deaf, wheelchair-bound and special needs athletes.

Top bowlers continue to the next level as they do in other sports. Local alumni Sarah Pelletier and Brandon Dubuc, Steve’s son, compete in college.

“I’ve been trying to get the MPA the past couple years to come just watch an event,” Steve Dubuc said. “To me, it’s about kids having a good time and learning something. Baseball you can do for three months of the year and then it’s done. The better ones play on, while the lesser ones kind of sit back. This can be for anyone, all year.”

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